IB 

Union Calendar No. 364 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6353 

[Report No. 117–468] 

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 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022 

Additional sponsors: Mr. HARDER of California, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. LEVIN of 

California, and Ms. STANSBURY

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be 

printed 


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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. 


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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— 

8 (1) the National Service Animals Monument 

9 Corporation’s mission is to honor and recognize the 

10 broad scope of service animals, including working 

11 animals, through the creation of a memorial to edu12 cate the public of the contributions by service ani13 mals and the human-animal bond between service 

14 animals and their handlers, whether a person with 

15 a disability, a law enforcement officer, military per16 sonnel, or other handler; 

17 (2) formalized service animal work began in 

18 1929 when the Eustice School in New Jersey estab19 lished the first guide-dog school; 

20 (3) the purple poppy is the international symbol 

21 for the service and sacrifice of service animals; 

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

23 Service Animals Day is celebrated in the United 

24 States and throughout the world; 


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

2 horses, homing pigeons, donkeys, mules, dolphins, 

3 sea lions, and other animals, have worked alongside 

4 and supported humans throughout history and have 

5 created strong human-animal bonds, including— 

6 (A) during the Revolutionary War, horses 

7 served in combat carrying soldiers, as well as 

8 transporting the wounded and critical supplies; 

9 (B) during World War I and World War 

10 II— 

11 (i) homing pigeons served as critical 

12 messengers with tiny message capsules at13 tached to their legs that were used to send 

14 communications that saved the lives of 

15 countless soldiers, resulting in many pi16 geons becoming the target of enemy fire; 

17 and 

18 (ii) donkeys and mules transported 

19 food, supplies, and wounded 

20 servicemembers; and 

21 (C) during the war in Afghanistan— 

22 (i) military working dogs safeguarded 

23 the lives of thousands of servicemen by 

24 clearing areas of improvised explosion de25 vices; and 


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

2 Shepherd-Belgian Malinois service dog, 

3 was employed by the United States Marine 

4 Corps for 6 years and trained to detect ex5 plosives, deploying twice to Iraq and once 

6 to Afghanistan, supporting over 400 mis7 sions without a single human fatality, and 

8 ultimately sustaining an injury and ampu9 tation in 2012 due to an improvised explo10 sive device while on patrol in Afghanistan; 

11 (6) the bonds formed between military per12 sonnel and law enforcement and their working dogs 

13 are so strong that they have risked their lives will14 ingly to save the other; 

15 (7) the tasks that service dogs perform for per16 sons with disabilities are essential activities of daily 

17 living, such as guiding people with visual impair18 ments, signaling sounds for those who are deaf, re19 trieving items for people with mobility issues, alert20 ing about impending cardiac episodes or seizures, 

21 turning on lights, providing stability for their owner 

22 while standing, and pressing elevator and accessi23 bility buttons; 

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

25 functional tasks and missions, the human-animal 


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1 bond provides handlers the ability to live independ2 ently, work confidently, and socialize freely; 

3 (9) shelter dogs can be trained as service ani4 mals; 

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

6 (A) support a variety of health and ther7 apy services, including for people with autism, 

8 schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and bipolar 

9 disorder; and 

10 (B) specifically, can support 

11 servicemembers and veterans who experience 

12 traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic 

13 stress disorder; 

14 (11) search and rescue dogs working with civil15 ian or law enforcement handlers make United States 

16 communities and the Nation safer when they assist 

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

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

19 or manmade disasters, for example— 

20 (A) service animals have supported search 

21 and rescue missions after terrorist attacks, in22 cluding September 11 and the Oklahoma City 

23 bombing; and 


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1 (B) service animals have supported local 

2 search and rescue missions involving lost chil3 dren, such as— 

4 (i) the service dog Mercy, a blood5 hound with the Lee County, Florida, Sher6 iff’s department, who tracked a 12-year-old 

7 girl for more than a half mile through 

8 thick woods after she went missing during 

9 Tropical Storm Elsa in July 2021; and 

10 (ii) the service dog Gandalf, trained 

11 by the South Carolina Search and Rescue 

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

13 boy who had vanished from a campsite in 

14 the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Caro15 lina in March 2019; 

16 (12) the extraordinary abilities of service ani17 mals, including smell, sensing, hearing, eyesight, and 

18 empathy, make them uniquely capable of helping hu19 mans, including by assisting with the identification 

20 of illegal drugs, detecting an impending seizure, 

21 hearing a person buried beneath rubble, or seeing an 

22 expensive or vital tool dropped by a naval diver; 

23 (13) service animals provide well-documented 

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


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1 (14) the National Service Animals Memorial 

2 will represent a place of pride, introspection, and 

3 education to pay tribute to the contributions and 

4 sacrifices made by all service animals and their han5 dlers throughout history. 

6 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION TO ESTABLISH COMMEMORATIVE 

7 WORK. 

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

9 Monument Corporation (referred to in this section as the 

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

11 Federal land in the District of Columbia and its environs 

12 to commemorate the heroic deeds and sacrifices of service 

13 animals and handlers of service animals in the United 

14 States. 

15 (b) COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARDS FOR COMMEMO16 RATIVE WORKS.—The establishment of the commemora17 tive work under this section shall be in accordance with 

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

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

20 (c) PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF FEDERAL

21 FUNDS.— 

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

23 used to pay any expense of the establishment of the 

24 commemorative work under this section. 


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1 (2) RESPONSIBILITY OF THE NATIONAL SERV2 ICE ANIMALS MONUMENT CORPORATION.—The Cor3 poration shall be solely responsible for the accept4 ance of contributions for, and the payment of the ex5 penses of, the establishment of the commemorative 

6 work under this section. 

7 (d) DEPOSIT OF EXCESS FUNDS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—If, upon payment of all ex9 penses for the establishment of the commemorative 

10 work under this section (including the maintenance 

11 and preservation amount required by section 

12 8906(b)(1) of title 40, United States Code), there 

13 remains a balance of funds received for the estab14 lishment of the commemorative work, the Corpora15 tion shall transmit the amount of the balance to the 

16 Secretary of the Interior for deposit in the account 

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

18 States Code. 

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

20 expiration of the authority for the commemorative 

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

22 States Code, there remains a balance of funds re23 ceived for the establishment of the commemorative 

24 work under this section, the Corporation shall trans25 mit the amount of the balance to a separate account 


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1 with the National Park Foundation for memorials, 

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

3 Administrator of General Services, as appropriate, in 

4 accordance with the process provided in section 

5 8906(b)(4) of title 40, United States Code, for ac6 counts established under paragraph (2) or (3) of 

7 section 8906(b) of such title. 


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Union Calendar No. 364 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6353 

[Report No. 117–468] 

A BILL 

To authorize the National Service Animals Monurons, and for other purposes. work in the District of Columbia and its envi- ment Corporation to establish a commemorative 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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