II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3438 

To authorize the National Service Animals Monument Corporation to establish 

a commemorative work in the District of Columbia and its environs, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 4, 2022 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the National Service Animals Monument Corporation to establish a commemorative work in the District of Columbia and its environs, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘National Service Ani5 mals Memorial Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the mission of the National Service Animals 

2 Monument Corporation is to honor and recognize the 

3 broad scope of service animals, including working 

4 animals, through the establishment of a memorial to 

5 educate the public about the contributions made by 

6 service animals and the human-animal bond between 

7 service animals and the handlers of the service ani8 mals, regardless of whether the handler is an indi9 vidual with a disability, a law enforcement officer, 

10 military personnel, or any other individual; 

11 (2) in 1929, formalized service animal work 

12 began when the Eustice School in New Jersey estab13 lished the first guide-dog school; 

14 (3) the purple poppy is the international symbol 

15 for the service and sacrifice of service animals; 

16 (4) on February 24 of each year, National 

17 Service Animals Day is celebrated in the United 

18 States and throughout the world; 

19 (5) service and working animals, such as dogs, 

20 horses, homing pigeons, donkeys, mules, dolphins, 

21 sea lions, and other animals, have worked alongside 

22 and supported humans throughout history and have 

23 created strong human-animal bonds, including 

24 when— 


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1 (A) during the Revolutionary War, horses 

2 served in combat carrying soldiers and trans3 porting the wounded and critical supplies; 

4 (B) during World War I and World War 

5 II— 

6 (i) homing pigeons served as critical 

7 messengers with tiny message capsules at8 tached to the legs of the pigeons that were 

9 used to send communications that saved 

10 the lives of countless soldiers, resulting in 

11 many pigeons becoming the target of 

12 enemy fire; and 

13 (ii) donkeys and mules transported 

14 food, supplies, and wounded 

15 servicemembers; and 

16 (C) during the war in Afghanistan— 

17 (i) military working dogs safeguarded 

18 the lives of thousands of servicemembers 

19 by clearing areas of improvised explosion 

20 devices; and 

21 (ii) as 1 example, Lucca, a German 

22 Shepherd-Belgian Malinois service dog— 

23 (I) was employed by the United 

24 States Marine Corps for 6 years; 


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1 (II) was trained to detect explo2 sives; 

3 (III) deployed twice to Iraq and 

4 once to Afghanistan; 

5 (IV) supported over 400 missions 

6 without a single human fatality; and 

7 (V) sustained an injury and am8 putation in 2012 due to an improvised 

9 explosive device while on patrol in Af10 ghanistan; 

11 (6) the bonds formed between law enforcement 

12 and military personnel and working dogs are so 

13 strong that the personnel and dogs have willingly 

14 risked their lives to save each other; 

15 (7) the tasks that service dogs perform for indi16 viduals with disabilities are essential activities of 

17 daily living, such as— 

18 (A) guiding individuals with visual impair19 ments; 

20 (B) signaling sounds for individuals who 

21 are deaf; 

22 (C) retrieving items for individuals with 

23 mobility issues; 

24 (D) alerting the individuals about impend25 ing cardiac episodes or seizures; 


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1 (E) turning on lights for the individuals; 

2 (F) providing stability for the individuals 

3 while the individuals are standing; and 

4 (G) pressing elevator and accessibility but5 tons for the individuals; 

6 (8) in addition to the help of service animals 

7 with functional tasks and missions, the human-ani8 mal bond provides handlers the ability to— 

9 (A) live independently; 

10 (B) work confidently; and 

11 (C) socialize freely; 

12 (9) shelter dogs can be trained as service ani13 mals; 

14 (10) service animals, such as horses and dogs, 

15 support— 

16 (A) a variety of health and therapy serv17 ices, including for individuals with autism, 

18 schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and bipolar 

19 disorder; and 

20 (B) servicemembers and veterans who ex21 perience traumatic brain injury and post-trau22 matic stress disorder; 

23 (11) search and rescue dogs working with civil24 ian or law enforcement handlers make communities 

25 in the United States and the United States overall 


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1 safer when assisting with the rescue of lost children, 

2 seniors, and other at-risk individuals, including in 

3 the event of natural or manmade disasters, such as 

4 the support by service animals of— 

5 (A) search and rescue missions after ter6 rorist attacks, including the Oklahoma City 

7 bombing on April 19, 1995, and the terrorist 

8 attack on September 11, 2001; and 

9 (B) local search and rescue missions in10 volving lost children, such as— 

11 (i) the service dog Mercy, a blood12 hound with the Lee County, Florida, Sher13 iff’s department, who tracked a 12-year-old 

14 girl for more than half a mile through 

15 thick woods after the girl went missing 

16 during Tropical Storm Elsa in July 2021; 

17 and 

18 (ii) the service dog Gandalf, trained 

19 by the South Carolina Search and Rescue 

20 Dog Association, who found a 12-year-old 

21 boy who had vanished from a campsite in 

22 the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Caro23 lina in March 2019; 

24 (12) the extraordinary abilities of service ani25 mals, including smell, sensing, hearing, eyesight, and 


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1 empathy, make the service animals uniquely capable 

2 of helping humans, including by— 

3 (A) assisting with the identification of ille4 gal drugs; 

5 (B) detecting an impending seizure; 

6 (C) hearing an individual buried beneath 

7 rubble; or 

8 (D) seeing an expensive or vital tool 

9 dropped by a naval diver; 

10 (13) service animals provide well-documented 

11 value to human health, safety, and security; and 

12 (14) the National Service Animals Memorial 

13 will represent a place of pride, introspection, and 

14 education to pay tribute to the contributions and 

15 sacrifices made by all service animals and the han16 dlers of service animals throughout history. 

17 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION TO ESTABLISH COMMEMORATIVE 

18 WORK. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Service Animals 

20 Monument Corporation (referred to in this section as the 

21 ‘‘Corporation’’) may establish a commemorative work on 

22 Federal land in the District of Columbia and its environs 

23 to commemorate the heroic deeds and sacrifices of service 

24 animals and handlers of service animals in the United 

25 States. 


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1 (b) COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARDS FOR COMMEMO2 RATIVE WORKS.—The establishment of the commemora3 tive work under this section shall be in accordance with 

4 chapter 89 of title 40, United States Code (commonly 

5 known as the ‘‘Commemorative Works Act’’). 

6 (c) PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF FEDERAL

7 FUNDS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Federal funds may not be 

9 used to pay any expense of the establishment of the 

10 commemorative work under this section. 

11 (2) RESPONSIBILITY OF THE NATIONAL SERV12 ICE ANIMALS MONUMENT CORPORATION.—The Cor13 poration shall be solely responsible for the accept14 ance of contributions for, and the payment of the ex15 penses of, the establishment of the commemorative 

16 work under this section. 

17 (d) DEPOSIT OF EXCESS FUNDS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—If, on payment of all ex19 penses for the establishment of the commemorative 

20 work under this section (including the maintenance 

21 and preservation amount required by section 

22 8906(b)(1) of title 40, United States Code), there 

23 remains a balance of funds received for the estab24 lishment of the commemorative work, the Corpora25 tion shall transmit the amount of the balance to the 


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1 Secretary of the Interior for deposit in the account 

2 provided for in section 8906(b)(3) of title 40, United 

3 States Code. 

4 (2) ON EXPIRATION OF AUTHORITY.—If, on ex5 piration of the authority for the commemorative 

6 work under section 8903(e) of title 40, United 

7 States Code, there remains a balance of funds re8 ceived for the establishment of the commemorative 

9 work under this section, the Corporation shall trans10 mit the amount of the balance to a separate account 

11 with the National Park Foundation for memorials, 

12 to be available to the Secretary of the Interior or the 

13 Administrator of General Services, as appropriate, in 

14 accordance with the process provided in section 

15 8906(b)(4) of title 40, United States Code, for ac16 counts established under paragraph (2) or (3) of 

17 section 8906(b) of that title. 

Æ 


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