[House Report 117-468]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress    }                                  {     Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session       }                                  {     117-468

======================================================================
 
                 NATIONAL SERVICE ANIMALS MEMORIAL ACT

                                _______
                                

 September 19, 2022.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Grijalva, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 6353]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 6353) 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, 
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 6353 is to authorize the National 
Service Animals Monument Corporation to establish a 
commemorative work in the District of Columbia and its 
environs.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    H.R. 6353 would authorize the National Service Animals 
Monument Corporation to establish a commemorative work on 
federal land in the District of Columbia and its environs to 
commemorate the heroic deeds and sacrifices of service animals 
and handlers of service animals in the United States.
    This bill would authorize the creation of a memorial in the 
Greater Washington, D.C., area under the Commemorative Works 
Act to show gratitude for service animals and their handlers 
and serve as a place of introspection over their contributions. 
The memorial will be fully paid for by a partnering 
organization, and no taxpayer dollars will be used.
    H.R. 6353 recognizes that 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. Formalized service animal work 
began in 1929 when the Eustice School in New Jersey established 
the first guide-dog school. The purple poppy is the 
international symbol for the service and sacrifice of service 
animals. On February 24 of each year, National Service Animals 
Day is celebrated in the United States and throughout the 
world.
    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. During the 
Revolutionary War, horses served in combat carrying soldiers, 
as well as transporting the wounded and critical supplies. 
During World War I and World War II, 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. In those wars, donkeys and mules 
transported food, supplies, and wounded servicemembers. During 
the war in Afghanistan, military working dogs safeguarded the 
lives of thousands of servicemembers by clearing areas of 
improvised explosion devices. In one example, Lucca, a German 
Shepherd-Belgian Malinois service dog, was employed by the 
United States Marine Corps for six years and trained to detect 
explosives, deploying twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan, 
supporting over 400 missions without a single human fatality. 
Lucca ultimately sustained an injury and amputation in 2012 due 
to an improvised explosive device while on patrol in 
Afghanistan. The bonds formed between military personnel and 
law enforcement and their working dogs are so strong that they 
have risked their safety and their lives willingly to save the 
other.
    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 human while 
standing, and pressing elevator and accessibility buttons. 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. 
Shelter dogs can be trained as service animals. Service 
animals, such as horses and dogs support a variety of health 
and therapy services, including for people with autism, 
schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. 
Specifically, these service animals can support servicemembers 
and veterans who experience traumatic brain injury and post-
traumatic stress disorder.
    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, service animals 
have supported search and rescue missions after terrorist 
attacks, including September 11 and the Oklahoma City bombing. 
Service animals have supported local search and rescue missions 
involving lost children. The service dog Mercy, a bloodhound 
with the Lee County, Florida, Sheriff's department, 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. 
The service dog Gandalf, trained by the South Carolina Search 
and Rescue Dog Association, found a 12-year-old boy who had 
vanished from a campsite in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North 
Carolina in March 2019.
    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. Service 
animals provide well-documented value to human health, safety, 
and security.
    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.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 6353 was introduced on January 3, 2022, by 
Representative Susan Wild (D-PA). The bill was referred solely 
to the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee 
to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public 
Lands. On July 14, 2022, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the 
bill. On July 20, 2022, the Natural Resources Committee met to 
consider the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged by unanimous 
consent. No amendments were offered. The bill was adopted and 
ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by 
unanimous consent.

                                HEARINGS

    For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6) of House rule XIII, the 
following hearing was used to develop or consider this measure: 
hearing by the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and 
Public Lands held on July 14, 2022.

            COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

           COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII AND CONGRESSIONAL 
                               BUDGET ACT

    1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act. 
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974, the Committee has received the following estimate for the 
bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 15, 2022.
Hon. Raul M. Grijalva,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 6353, the National 
Service Animals Memorial Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Madeleine 
Fox.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

    	[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    

    H.R. 6353 would authorize the National Service Animals 
Monument Corporation to establish a commemorative work in or 
near Washington, D.C. The bill would prohibit the use of 
federal funds to establish the memorial.
    The project would be subject to the provisions of the 
Commemorative Works Act. Under that act, any entity that 
receives a construction permit for a commemorative work must 
donate an amount equal to 10 percent of the memorial's 
estimated construction costs to the National Park Foundation, a 
nonprofit organization whose subsequent donations to the 
National Park Service are recorded on the budget. That donation 
and any project funds remaining after construction would be 
available for maintenance of the memorial without further 
appropriation.
    Based on the experience from similar projects, CBO expects 
that any amounts collected by the federal government for 
maintenance of the monument would not be received for several 
years and would be offset by expenditures soon thereafter. 
Thus, CBO estimates that enacting the bill would have a 
negligible effect on net direct spending.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Madeleine Fox. 
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Director of Budget Analysis.
    2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goals and 
objectives of this bill are to authorize the National Service 
Animals Monument Corporation to establish a commemorative work 
in the District of Columbia and its environs.

                           EARMARK STATEMENT

    This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives.

                 UNFUNDED MANDATES REFORM ACT STATEMENT

    According to CBO, this bill contains no unfunded mandates 
as defined by the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

                           EXISTING PROGRAMS

    This bill does not establish or reauthorize a program of 
the federal government known to be duplicative of another 
program.

                  APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

               PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL, OR TRIBAL LAW

    Any preemptive effect of this bill over state, local, or 
tribal law is intended to be consistent with the bill's 
purposes and text and the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the 
U.S. Constitution.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes to existing 
law.

        SUPPLEMENTAL, MINORITY, ADDITIONAL, OR DISSENTING VIEWS

    None.

                                  [all]