I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1739 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for veterinary care for 
retired military working dogs, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 10, 2021 
Mr. GARAMENDI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for veteri-
nary care for retired military working dogs, 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 ‘‘Support Our Military 
Working Dogs Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PROVISION OF VETERI-
NARY CARE FOR RETIRED MILITARY WORK-
ING DOGS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 994 of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended— 
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(1) in subsection (a); 
(A) by striking ‘‘establish and maintain a 
system to’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘for the veterinary care of’’ 
and inserting ‘‘veterinary care for’’; and 
(C) by striking the second sentence; 
(2) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘that the 
Secretary of the military department concerned de-
termines is suitable for adoption or is’’ before 
‘‘adopted’’; and 
(3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘the system 
authorized by’’. 
(b) MULTI-YEAR AGREEMENTS WITH OTHER ENTI-
TIES.—Such section is further amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(d) ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF DONATED FUNDS.— 
(1) The Secretary of Defense may accept donations of 
funds, gifts, and in-kind contributions for the purpose of 
providing long-term care for any military working dog 
adopted under section 2583 of this title. Any amount so 
accepted shall be available without further appropriation 
and without fiscal year limitation. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary of Defense may enter into a 
multi-year agreement with a veterans service organization 
or appropriate nonprofit entity under which— 
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‘‘(A) the organization or entity may solicit and 
accept donations of funds on behalf of the Depart-
ment of Defense pursuant to paragraph (1); and 
‘‘(B) the organization or entity agrees to trans-
fer any funds accepted pursuant to such an agree-
ment to the Department of Defense. 
‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘veterans service or-
ganization’ means an organization recognized by the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs for the representation of vet-
erans under section 5902 of title 38.’’. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON CHARGE FOR ADOPTION OF MILI-
TARY ANIMALS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (d) of section 2583 of 
title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking 
‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Subsection (g)(2)(A) 
of such section is amended by inserting ‘‘or’’ after the 
semicolon. 
SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF RESEARCH UNDER JOINT TRAU-
MA 
EDUCATION 
AND 
TRAINING 
DIREC-
TORATE 
AND 
INCLUSION 
OF 
MILITARY 
WORKING DOGS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of section 708 of 
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
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2017 (Public Law 114–328; 10 U.S.C. 1071 note) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘of members 
of the Armed Forces’’ and inserting ‘‘with respect to 
both members of the Armed Forces and military 
working dogs’’; and 
(2) by striking paragraph (9) and inserting the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(9) To inform and advise the conduct of re-
search on the leading causes of morbidity and mor-
tality of members of the Armed Forces and military 
working dogs in combat.’’. 
(b) VETERINARIANS IN PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT 
PLAN.—Subsection (d)(1) of such section is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as sub-
paragraph (G); and 
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the fol-
lowing new subparagraph: 
‘‘(F) Veterinary care.’’. 
Æ 
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