I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2493 

To establish a grant program to encourage the use of assistance dogs by 

certain members of the Armed Forces and veterans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2015 

Mr. MCGOVERN (for himself, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. POCAN, Ms. CLARKE of New 

York, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. NEAL, Mr. 

LIPINSKI, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. DELANEY, 

Ms. TITUS, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. MOORE, Mr. QUIGLEY, and Mr. HONDA) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to encourage the use of assistance dogs by certain members of the Armed Forces 

and veterans. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wounded Warrior 

5 Service Dog Act of 2015’’. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2493 IH

1 SEC. 2. WOUNDED WARRIOR K–9 CORPS. 

2 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—Subject to the avail3 ability of appropriations provided for such purpose, the 

4 Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Af5 fairs shall jointly establish a program, to be known as the 

6 ‘‘K–9 Companion Corps Program’’, to award competitive 

7 grants to nonprofit organizations to assist such organiza8 tions in the planning, designing, establishing, or operating 

9 (or any combination thereof) of programs to provide as10 sistance dogs to covered members and veterans. 

11 (b) USE OF FUNDS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The recipient of a grant 

13 under this section shall use the grant to carry out 

14 programs that provide assistance dogs to covered 

15 members and veterans who have a disability de16 scribed in paragraph (2). 

17 (2) DISABILITY.—A disability described in this 

18 paragraph is any of the following: 

19 (A) Blindness or visual impairment. 

20 (B) Loss of use of a limb, paralysis, or 

21 other significant mobility issues. 

22 (C) Loss of hearing. 

23 (D) Traumatic brain injury. 

24 (E) Post-traumatic stress disorder. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2493 IH

1 (F) Any other disability that the Secretary 

2 of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Af3 fairs consider appropriate. 

4 (3) TIMING OF AWARD.—The Secretaries may 

5 not award a grant under this section to reimburse 

6 a recipient for costs previously incurred by the re7 cipient in carrying out a program to provide assist8 ance dogs to covered members and veterans unless 

9 the recipient elects for the award to be such a reim10 bursement. 

11 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

12 under this section, a nonprofit organization shall submit 

13 an application to the Secretary of Defense and the Sec14 retary of Veterans Affairs at such time, in such manner, 

15 and containing such information as the Secretary of De16 fense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may require. 

17 Such application shall include— 

18 (1) a proposal for the evaluation required by 

19 subsection (d); and 

20 (2) a description of— 

21 (A) the training that will be provided by 

22 the organization to covered members and vet23 erans; 

24 (B) the training of dogs that will serve as 

25 assistance dogs; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2493 IH

1 (C) the aftercare services that the organi2 zation will provide for such dogs and covered 

3 members and veterans; 

4 (D) the plan for publicizing the availability 

5 of such dogs through a targeted marketing 

6 campaign to covered members and veterans; 

7 (E) the recognized expertise of the organi8 zation in breeding and training such dogs; 

9 (F) the commitment of the organization to 

10 comparable standards as that of the Inter11 national Guide Dog Federation or Assistance 

12 Dogs International; 

13 (G) the commitment of the organization to 

14 humane standards for animals; and 

15 (H) the experience of the organization with 

16 working with military medical treatment facili17 ties or medical facilities of the Department of 

18 Veterans Affairs. 

19 (d) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall require each 

20 recipient of a grant to use a portion of the funds made 

21 available through the grant to conduct an evaluation of 

22 the effectiveness of the activities carried out through the 

23 grant by such recipient. 

24 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2493 IH

1 (1) ASSISTANCE DOG.—The term ‘‘assistance 

2 dog’’ means a dog specifically trained to perform 

3 physical tasks to mitigate the effects of a disability 

4 described in subsection (b)(2), except that the term 

5 does not include a dog specifically trained for com6 fort or personal defense. 

7 (2) COVERED MEMBERS AND VETERANS.—The 

8 term ‘‘covered members and veterans’’ means— 

9 (A) with respect to a member of the 

10 Armed Forces, such member who is— 

11 (i) receiving medical treatment, recu12 peration, or therapy under chapter 55 of 

13 title 10, United States Code; 

14 (ii) in medical hold or medical hold15 over status; or 

16 (iii) covered under section 1202 or 

17 1205 of title 10, United States Code; and 

18 (B) with respect to a veteran, a veteran 

19 who is enrolled in the health care system estab20 lished under section 1705(a) of title 38, United 

21 States Code. 

22 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

23 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 

24 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020. 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS