National Service Animals Memorial Act

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. Short title This Act may be cited as the National Service Animals Memorial Act 2. Findings Congress finds that— (1) the National Service Animals Monument Corporation’s mission is to honor and recognize the broad scope of service animals, including working animals, through the creation of a memorial to educate the public of the contributions by service animals and the human-animal bond between service animals and their handlers, whether a person with a disability, a law enforcement officer, military personnel, or other handler; (2) formalized service animal work began in 1929 when the Eustice School in New Jersey established the first guide-dog school; (3) the purple poppy is the international symbol for the service and sacrifice of service animals; (4) on February 24 of each year, National Service Animals Day is celebrated in the United States and throughout the world; (5) service and working animals, such as dogs, horses, homing pigeons, donkeys, mules, dolphins, sea lions, and other animals, have worked alongside and supported humans throughout history and have created strong human-animal bonds, including— (A) during the Revolutionary War, horses served in combat carrying soldiers, as well as transporting the wounded and critical supplies; (B) during World War I and World War II— (i) homing pigeons served as critical messengers with tiny message capsules attached to their legs that were used to send communications that saved the lives of countless soldiers, resulting in many pigeons becoming the target of enemy fire; and (ii) donkeys and mules transported food, supplies, and wounded servicemembers; and (C) during the war in Afghanistan— (i) military working dogs safeguarded the lives of thousands of servicemen by clearing areas of improvised explosion devices; and (ii) in one example, Lucca, a German Shepherd-Belgian Malinois service dog, was employed by the United States Marine Corps for 6 years and trained to detect explosives, deploying twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan, supporting over 400 missions without a single human fatality, and ultimately sustaining an injury and amputation in 2012 due to an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Afghanistan; (6) the bonds formed between military personnel and law enforcement and their working dogs are so strong that they have risked their lives willingly to save the other; (7) the tasks that service dogs perform for persons with disabilities are essential activities of daily living, such as guiding people with visual impairments, signaling sounds for those who are deaf, retrieving items for people with mobility issues, alerting about impending cardiac episodes or seizures, turning on lights, providing stability for their owner while standing, and pressing elevator and accessibility buttons; (8) in addition to service animals’ help with functional tasks and missions, the human-animal bond provides handlers the ability to live independently, work confidently, and socialize freely; (9) shelter dogs can be trained as service animals; (10) service animals, such as horses and dogs— (A) support a variety of health and therapy services, including for people with autism, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder; and (B) specifically, can support servicemembers and veterans who experience traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder; (11) search and rescue dogs working with civilian or law enforcement handlers make United States communities and the Nation safer when they assist with the rescue of lost children, seniors, and other at-risk individuals, including in the event of natural or manmade disasters, for example— (A) service animals have supported search and rescue missions after terrorist attacks, including September 11 and the Oklahoma City bombing; and (B) service animals have supported local search and rescue missions involving lost children, such as— (i) the service dog Mercy, a bloodhound with the Lee County, Florida, Sheriff’s department, who tracked a 12-year-old girl for more than a half mile through thick woods after she went missing during Tropical Storm Elsa in July 2021; and (ii) the service dog Gandalf, trained by the South Carolina Search and Rescue Dog Association, who found a 12-year-old boy who had vanished from a campsite in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina in March 2019; (12) the extraordinary abilities of service animals, including smell, sensing, hearing, eyesight, and empathy, make them uniquely capable of helping humans, including by assisting with the identification of illegal drugs, detecting an impending seizure, hearing a person buried beneath rubble, or seeing an expensive or vital tool dropped by a naval diver; (13) service animals provide well-documented value to human health, safety, and security; and (14) the National Service Animals Memorial will represent a place of pride, introspection, and education to pay tribute to the contributions and sacrifices made by all service animals and their handlers throughout history. 3. Authorization to establish commemorative work (a) In general The National Service Animals Monument Corporation (referred to in this section as the Corporation (b) Compliance with standards for commemorative works The establishment of the commemorative work under this section shall be in accordance with chapter 89 Commemorative Works Act (c) Prohibition on the use of Federal funds (1) In general Federal funds may not be used to pay any expense of the establishment of the commemorative work under this section. (2) Responsibility of the National Service Animals Monument Corporation The Corporation shall be solely responsible for the acceptance of contributions for, and the payment of the expenses of, the establishment of the commemorative work under this section. (d) Deposit of excess funds (1) In general If, upon payment of all expenses for the establishment of the commemorative work under this section (including the maintenance and preservation amount required by section 8906(b)(1) of title 40, United States Code), there remains a balance of funds received for the establishment of the commemorative work, the Corporation shall transmit the amount of the balance to the Secretary of the Interior for deposit in the account provided for in section 8906(b)(3) of title 40, United States Code. (2) On expiration of authority If, upon expiration of the authority for the commemorative work under section 8903(e) of title 40, United States Code, there remains a balance of funds received for the establishment of the commemorative work under this section, the Corporation shall transmit the amount of the balance to a separate account with the National Park Foundation for memorials, to be available to the Secretary of the Interior or the Administrator of General Services, as appropriate, in accordance with the process provided in section 8906(b)(4) of title 40, United States Code, for accounts established under paragraph (2) or (3) of section 8906(b) of such title. September 19, 2022 Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Summary: National Service Animals Memorial Act This bill authorizes the National Service Animals Monument Corporation to establish a commemorative work on federal land in the District of Columbia to commemorate the heroic deeds and sacrifices of service animals and handlers of service animals in the United States. The corporation shall be solely responsible for the acceptance of contributions for, and the payment of the expenses of, the establishment of the commemorative work. The establishment of the commemorative work shall be in accordance with the Commemorative Works Act. Federal funds may not be used to pay any expenses for the establishment of the commemorative work.