I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5885 
To establish a grant program to facilitate the veterinary care of former 
law enforcement canines, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 3, 2023 
Mr. FEENSTRA introduced the following bill 
OCTOBER 25, 2023 
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To establish a grant program to facilitate the veterinary 
care of former law enforcement canines, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honoring Police Offi-
cer and K9 Service Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO FACILITATE VETERINARY 
CARE FOR FORMER LAW ENFORCEMENT CA-
NINES. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen-
eral shall establish a grant program to facilitate the care 
of former law enforcement canines (in this section referred 
to as the ‘‘program’’). 
(b) GRANT
AUTHORITY
AND
ELIGIBLE
RECIPI-
ENTS.—In carrying out the program, the Attorney Gen-
eral may award a grant on a competitive basis to any enti-
ty that qualifies as a nonprofit organization under section 
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and that 
the Attorney General determines has— 
(1) a demonstrated history of successfully as-
sisting the owners of former law enforcement ca-
nines with costs associated with veterinary care, 
medication and antibiotics, or other medical ex-
penses for the canine; and 
(2) the capacity to record and provide a de-
tailed accounting of the purposes for which grant 
amounts are expended. 
(c) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—A recipient of a grant 
under the program may only use grant funds to cover the 
costs associated with veterinary care, medication and anti-
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biotics, or other medical expenses determined necessary by 
a veterinarian for the former law enforcement canine. 
(d) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 
the Program, an entity shall submit to the Secretary an 
application at such time, in such form, and containing 
such information as the Attorney General determines ap-
propriate. 
(e) REPORTS.— 
(1) REPORTS TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.—As a 
condition of receiving a grant under the program, a 
prospective recipient shall agree to submit to the At-
torney General, on an annual basis for the duration 
of the project to be carried out using grant funds a 
report containing, with respect to the year covered 
by the report— 
(A) a detailed accounting of how grant 
funds were used; and 
(B) a proposal for how activities carried 
out under the project may be improved in the 
future. 
(2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Upon receiv-
ing a report under paragraph (1), the Attorney Gen-
eral shall submit a copy of the report to Congress. 
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(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 
out this section $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. 
(g) FORMER
LAW
ENFORCEMENT
CANINE
DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘former law enforce-
ment canine’’ means a canine that has been used by a 
Federal, State, or local agency in the performance of law 
enforcement duties and that has been determined by such 
agency to be no longer needed for official purposes. 
Æ 
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