Corporal Dustin Lee Memorial Act

Mr. Speaker, I have introduced H.R. 4639. It is known as the Corporal Dustin Lee Memorial Act, to amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the adoption of a military working dog by the family of a deceased or seriously wounded member of the Armed Forces who was the handler of the dog.

Mr. Speaker, 3 years ago I got involved with a family from Mississippi. It was somewhat by accident really. It was brought to my attention that Rachel and Jerome Lee, the husband, had lost a son named Dustin Lee, and that Dustin was killed for this country in Iraq. He was a dog handler, and the dog was wounded as well.

The Marine Corps took the dog, named Lex, to the funeral in Mississippi of Dustin Lee, the Marine who was killed. And at that time the daddy, Jerome Lee, and the mama, Rachel Lee, wanted to have the dog stay with them. Well, it wasn't possible because the rules and regulations said that the dog, which was owned by the Air Force, leased to the Marine Corps, had to be retired.

So when the family, the mother and dad, asked for the dog that their son loved so much, the Marine Corps said we need 2 more years of service by the dog Lex. And when I heard about it, I called the family in Mississippi. And my heart went out to the family. I asked the family what could we do to help. And I don't want to take credit for this, Mr. Speaker, I want to give credit to General Mike Regner, who right now is serving in Afghanistan for this country. He is responsible for this happening. I just made a phone call.

Lex was retired 2 years ago this December at a ceremony down in Georgia, and the family now has the dog. In fact, Mrs. Lee is going to bring Lex and come to Walter Reed on the 12th of April. She wants to take the dog to visit the troops at Walter Reed, which I think is very magnanimous of the mom and dad. They want to let the soldiers and the Marines there know what happened with their son Dustin and say thank you, but also take Lex so that Lex can say thank you to the soldiers and Marines at Walter Reed.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to yield back my time in just a second. I am going to ask my colleagues in the House to please join us on H.R. 4639. This, again, is to honor the families who have given a child who happened to be a dog handler the opportunity to own that dog almost immediately after the dog is cleared. And if it should be a wounded soldier, marine, or airman or seaman, they would have the same opportunity.

So this is a photograph, Mr. Speaker, of Lex looking at the headstone of the grave of Dustin Lee, and Dustin is there on his knees with his hands around the head of the dog which was Lex. This is very special, and that's why I wanted to bring it to the floor. I ask my friends, again, to join me in this legislation, H.R. 4639.

Mr. Speaker, as I always do on the floor of the House, I want to ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform. I want to ask God to please bless the families of our men and women in uniform. I want to ask God in his loving arms to hold the families who have given child, dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask God to please bless the House and the Senate, that we will do what is right in the eyes of God for his people throughout this country. And I want to ask God to give wisdom, strength and courage to the President, Mr. Obama, that he will do what is right in the eyes of God for God's people in this country. And three times I ask God, Please, God, please, God, please, God, continue to bless America.

Mr. Speaker, I have introduced H.R. 4631. The text is ``to authorize the adoption of a military working dog by the family of a deceased or seriously wounded member of the Armed Forces who was the handler of the dog.'' This act may be cited as the ``Corporal Dustin Lee Memorial Act.''

Mr. Speaker, 2 years ago, it was brought to my attention that a family in Mississippi, Rachel and Jerome Lee, their son, Dustin, a marine, was killed in Iraq for this Nation. Also with Dustin was his dog, Lex, who was wounded. In fact, the Marine Corps brought the dog, Lex, to Dustin's funeral.

Mr. and Mrs. Lee gave their son for this country, and all they asked of this Nation was to please let them have Lex, the dog that their son, Dustin, loved so much. Well, we all live here in Washington in a bureaucratic world, and there is some reason I guess for that, but the Marine Corps said to the family that Lex has 2 more years of service before he can be retired.

I heard about this story, and I called Mr. and Mrs. Lee in Mississippi. They told me, Congressman, we understand that this dog is very important to the cause of our Nation, but this dog meant so much to our son that that's all we would like to have. Well, I want to thank General Mike Regner, who I called and asked General Regner, is there any way we can expedite the retirement of Lex? And he said we will do our best to make this happen.

Well, these dogs that are trained work magnificently for this country. In fact, they give their lives many times to save a service person by seeking out these IEDs and other explosives. Well, it took about 3 weeks--that is not a whole lot of time, it really is not, but I think in the situation of these dogs, when the handler is killed for this country or seriously wounded, that we should be able to expedite this small gift to the family.

I will say to my colleagues, I am going to send a ``Dear Colleague'' around in the next few days that the Department of Defense has worked with us on. They support this legislation, so I hope that my colleagues will join me, and let's move this legislation through the House I hope expeditiously.

Mr. Speaker, this is a photograph taken by the family. When they got Lex home, they let Lex remember Dustin by having his clothes and his boots that had been returned from Iraq, and they let Lex remember the fragrance of their son. Then they took Lex to the cemetery--this is a rather large cemetery--and they said to Lex, Find Dustin, find Dustin. And the dog ran around the cemetery and then came up to the headstone. This is the headstone. It is a picture of their son Dustin with Lex. Dustin is kneeling and Lex is sitting there beside him. Lex came up to this headstone and laid down beside the headstone.

So with that, Mr. Speaker, I will ask my colleagues, please join us in H.R. 4639. This is the least we can do for the family or the wounded individual.

Mr. Speaker, as I always do, I ask God to please bless our men and women in uniform. I ask God to please bless the families of our men and women in uniform. I ask God, in His loving arms, to hold the families-- like the Lee family--who gave a child dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. And Mr. Speaker, I will ask three times from the bottom of my heart: God please, God please, God please continue to bless America.

Mr. Speaker, recently I introduced H.R. 4639, the Corporal Dustin Lee Memorial Act. What this bill would do is allow the adoption of military working dogs by the family of a deceased or seriously wounded member of the Armed Forces who was the dog's handler.

And, Mr. Speaker, beside me I have the poster of a family from Mississippi whose son was killed for this country, Dustin Lee. He was a dog handler in Iraq. He was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade, and his dog, Lex, was wounded.

The Marine Corps very kindly, at the funeral of Dustin Lee, carried Lex to be there with his master, and the family, Jerome, the daddy, and the mom, Rachel, asked the Marine Corps to please let the dog stay with them. The dog had two more years of service.

This was brought to my attention. I called a very dear friend of mine, General Mike Regner, who's now in Afghanistan, told him the situation and said, Mike, is there anything we can do to help the Lee family adopt this dog, Lex?

And so, long story short, Mr. Speaker, the Marine Corps contacted the Air Force, and the adoption took place 2 years ago in Albany, Georgia.

I have beside me a photograph taken by the family. Lex, the dog, is looking at the headstone that's got an engraving of Dustin Lee and Lex, and it says, ``In loving memory of Corporal Dustin Jerome Lee.''

Mr. Speaker, what happened was as soon as they got the dog home, Lex, the German Shepherd, they allowed Lex to sniff the boots of their son, Dustin, who had been killed, and then they took Lex to the cemetery. I've seen photographs of the cemetery. It's a rather large cemetery. And they took the dog, Lex, away from the area, then they let him out and said, Find Dustin; find Dustin. And the dog ran up to the headstone and laid down.

I hope that my colleagues will join me in this effort to allow a family of a deceased soldier, marine, airman, whomever, that maybe was a dog handler who was killed for this country, or the seriously wounded soldier, marine or airman or seaman who was wounded be able to adopt the dog without going through a long process.

So, Mr. Speaker, I again will ask my colleagues to please join us in