[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9442]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  BRINGING MILITARY WORKING DOGS HOME

  (Mr. PAULSEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, the actions of the brave men and women in 
the military sacrifice so much for our country. Many of these soldiers 
on the front lines are aided by military working dogs who perform 
countless, dangerous actions on the battlefield. So it is easy to 
understand why there is a special bond that is formed between 
servicemembers and their military service dogs.
  Currently, the Department of Defense is not required to bring these 
dogs home after they are retired, and this means veterans are often 
forced to spend their own money to transport them back to the United 
States for adoption. That is why I have introduced bipartisan 
legislation with my colleague, Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema, that would 
fix this problem by ensuring that military working dogs are returned to 
the United States for adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, there is a waiting list of over 1,200 people looking to 
adopt these canines, and ensuring that our troops and veterans can 
easily adopt these dogs honors their service and their partnership.

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