I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6353 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2022 

Ms. WILD (for herself and Ms. MACE) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on 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— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 6353 IH

1 (1) the National Service Animals Monument 

2 Corporation’s mission is to honor and recognize the 

3 broad scope of service animals, including working 

4 animals, through the creation of a memorial to edu5 cate the public of the contributions by service ani6 mals and the human-animal bond between service 

7 animals and their handlers, whether a person with 

8 a disability, a law enforcement officer, military per9 sonnel, or other handler; 

10 (2) formalized service animal work began in 

11 1929 when the Eustice School in New Jersey estab12 lished the first guide-dog school; 

13 (3) the purple poppy is the international symbol 

14 for the service and sacrifice of service animals; 

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

16 Service Animals Day is celebrated in the United 

17 States and throughout the world; 

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

19 horses, homing pigeons, donkeys, mules, dolphins, 

20 sea lions, and other animals, have worked alongside 

21 and supported humans throughout history and have 

22 created strong human-animal bonds, including— 

23 (A) during the Revolutionary War, horses 

24 served in combat carrying soldiers, as well as 

25 transporting the wounded and critical supplies; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 6353 IH

1 (B) during World War I and World War 

2 II— 

3 (i) homing pigeons served as critical 

4 messengers with tiny message capsules at5 tached to their legs that were used to send 

6 communications that saved the lives of 

7 countless soldiers, resulting in many pi8 geons becoming the target of enemy fire; 

9 and 

10 (ii) donkeys and mules transported 

11 food, supplies, and wounded 

12 servicemembers; and 

13 (C) during the war in Afghanistan— 

14 (i) military working dogs safeguarded 

15 the lives of thousands of servicemen by 

16 clearing areas of improvised explosion de17 vices; and 

18 (ii) in one example, Lucca, a German 

19 Shepherd-Belgian Malinois service dog, 

20 was employed by the United States Marine 

21 Corps for 6 years and trained to detect ex22 plosives, deploying twice to Iraq and once 

23 to Afghanistan, supporting over 400 mis24 sions without a single human fatality, and 

25 ultimately sustaining an injury and ampuVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Jan 04, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6353.IH H6353

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 6353 IH

1 tation in 2012 due to an improvised explo2 sive device while on patrol in Afghanistan; 

3 (6) the bonds formed between military per4 sonnel and law enforcement and their working dogs 

5 are so strong that they have risked their lives will6 ingly to save the other; 

7 (7) the tasks that service dogs perform for per8 sons with disabilities are essential activities of daily 

9 living, such as guiding people with visual impair10 ments, signaling sounds for those who are deaf, re11 trieving items for people with mobility issues, alert12 ing about impending cardiac episodes or seizures, 

13 turning on lights, providing stability for their owner 

14 while standing, and pressing elevator and accessi15 bility buttons; 

16 (8) in addition to service animals’ help with 

17 functional tasks and missions, the human-animal 

18 bond provides handlers the ability to live independ19 ently, work confidently, and socialize freely; 

20 (9) shelter dogs can be trained as service ani21 mals; 

22 (10) service animals, such as horses and dogs— 

23 (A) support a variety of health and ther24 apy services, including for people with autism, 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 6353 IH

1 schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and bipolar 

2 disorder; and 

3 (B) specifically, can support 

4 servicemembers and veterans who experience 

5 traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic 

6 stress disorder; 

7 (11) search and rescue dogs working with civil8 ian or law enforcement handlers make United States 

9 communities and the Nation safer when they assist 

10 with the rescue of lost children, seniors, and other 

11 at-risk individuals, including in the event of natural 

12 or manmade disasters, for example— 

13 (A) service animals have supported search 

14 and rescue missions after terrorist attacks, in15 cluding September 11 and the Oklahoma City 

16 bombing; and 

17 (B) service animals have supported local 

18 search and rescue missions involving lost chil19 dren, such as— 

20 (i) the service dog Mercy, a blood21 hound with the Lee County, Florida, Sher22 iff’s department, who tracked a 12-year-old 

23 girl for more than a half mile through 

24 thick woods after she went missing during 

25 Tropical Storm Elsa in July 2021; and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 6353 IH

1 (ii) the service dog Gandalf, trained 

2 by the South Carolina Search and Rescue 

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

4 boy who had vanished from a campsite in 

5 the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Caro6 lina in March 2019; 

7 (12) the extraordinary abilities of service ani8 mals, including smell, sensing, hearing, eyesight, and 

9 empathy, make them uniquely capable of helping hu10 mans, including by assisting with the identification 

11 of illegal drugs, detecting an impending seizure, 

12 hearing a person buried beneath rubble, or seeing an 

13 expensive or vital tool dropped by a naval diver; 

14 (13) service animals provide well-documented 

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

16 (14) the National Service Animals Memorial 

17 will represent a place of pride, introspection, and 

18 education to pay tribute to the contributions and 

19 sacrifices made by all service animals and their han20 dlers throughout history. 

21 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION TO ESTABLISH COMMEMORATIVE 

22 WORK. 

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

24 Monument Corporation (referred to in this section as the 

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


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 6353 IH

1 Federal land in the District of Columbia and its environs 

2 to commemorate the heroic deeds and sacrifices of service 

3 animals and handlers of service animals in the United 

4 States. 

5 (b) COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARDS FOR COMMEMO6 RATIVE WORKS.—The establishment of the commemora7 tive work under this section shall be in accordance with 

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

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

10 (c) PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF FEDERAL

11 FUNDS.— 

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

13 used to pay any expense of the establishment of the 

14 commemorative work under this section. 

15 (2) RESPONSIBILITY OF THE NATIONAL SERV16 ICE ANIMALS MONUMENT CORPORATION.—The Cor17 poration shall be solely responsible for the accept18 ance of contributions for, and the payment of the ex19 penses of, the establishment of the commemorative 

20 work under this section. 

21 (d) DEPOSIT OF EXCESS FUNDS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—If, upon payment of all ex23 penses for the establishment of the commemorative 

24 work under this section (including the maintenance 

25 and preservation amount required by section 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 6353 IH

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

2 remains a balance of funds received for the estab3 lishment of the commemorative work, the Corpora4 tion shall transmit the amount of the balance to the 

5 Secretary of the Interior for deposit in the account 

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

7 States Code. 

8 (2) ON EXPIRATION OF AUTHORITY.—If, upon 

9 expiration of the authority for the commemorative 

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

11 States Code, there remains a balance of funds re12 ceived for the establishment of the commemorative 

13 work under this section, the Corporation shall trans14 mit the amount of the balance to a separate account 

15 with the National Park Foundation for memorials, 

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

17 Administrator of General Services, as appropriate, in 

18 accordance with the process provided in section 

19 8906(b)(4) of title 40, United States Code, for ac20 counts established under paragraph (2) or (3) of 

21 section 8906(b) of such title. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS