PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1448) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program on dog training therapy, and to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide service dogs to veterans with mental illnesses who do not have mobility impairments, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 1448, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I am so pleased that we have reported Congressman Steve Stivers' bill, the PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act, favorably out of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and are bringing it to the floor today with the support of over 300 Members on both sides of the aisle.

I am especially pleased to have negotiated, with the help of Ranking Member Bost, a new bipartisan version of the bill in time for Congressman Stivers to see it move before he leaves Congress.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has been a leader in offering veterans with PTSD and other invisible wounds of war a wide spectrum of evidence-based treatment options and adjunctive approaches to promote their mental health and well-being. This bill ensures that veterans can participate in service dog training through pilot program partnerships between VA and accredited service dog training nonprofit organizations across the country.

Madam Speaker, the bill also removes current impediments to VA's ability to prescribe mental health service dogs for veterans with PTSD, and a newly added section ensures that VA's current veterinary insurance benefit is also extended to those veterans receiving mental health service dogs through VA.

I therefore ask my colleagues to join me in supporting the PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Slotkin), my good friend and member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and original cosponsor of the bill.

Madam Speaker, I am delighted that the Veterans' Affairs Committee can, once again, unite America, including Michiganders and the Buckeye State.

I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Miss Rice), my good friend and former member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and lead Democratic cosponsor.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I also thank my colleague, the ranking member, Congressman Bost from Illinois, for his bipartisanship.

I do believe that H.R. 1448 is now in a form that would be acceptable to the Senate, and I am hopeful that it will pass.

I wish our colleague from the State of Ohio (Mr. Stivers) the best of luck on this new chapter in his life.

Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 1448, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1448, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1448, the PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act. As a Major General in the Ohio National Guard and a Congressman who represents 43,000 veterans in my district, I know the struggle of the invisible wounds of war.

I have met with a Vietnam veteran who was unable to leave his house for decades, a soldier who was deployed to Iraq who, when he returned, was addicted to heroin for 7 years, and another who was under my command in Operation Iraqi Freedom. His only goal was to take his fiancee out to dinner.

Unfortunately, these three stories are not unique, but these three have happy endings. By working with service dogs, these veterans got their lives back. Under the status quo, veterans aren't able to access this lifesaving treatment that these three veterans have gotten. We have a chance today to change that by passing this bill.

The PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act would establish a pilot program. This is not even a permanent program; it is a pilot program at the VA to provide grants to local service dog training organizations so the veterans can benefit

from work-therapy by learning the art and science of training a dog for service. After graduation, the veteran can adopt their canine partner if the veteran and/or his VA health provider agree that that veteran will benefit from continuing courses of treatment from that therapy dog.

I have seen the peer-reviewed information from Kaiser-Permanente and Purdue University that shows that these programs work. They reduce the amount of psychotropic drugs that these veterans are on. They reduce suicide. They improve overall mental health.

Today, we lose 22 veteran and Active Duty members a day to suicide. We can't let that go on. This can help that effort. It is a small price to pay. We can't afford to wait any longer.

I am, today, calling for us to pass this bill today, take it to the Senate, get it hotlined and signed and on the President's desk by Memorial Day.

I do want to thank the bipartisan folks who have helped on this: Chairman Takano; Ranking Member Bost; Representative Rice, our lead cosponsor; now-Governor Tim Walz, who was the sponsor in the last Congress; the floor leader Steny Hoyer; now-Governor DeSantis; Sheriff Rutherford; Dr. Dunn; Representative Slotkin; and Representative Sherrill. They have all played a very important role.

I want to thank the staff on Mr. Bost's team, Samantha Gonzalez, Christine Hill, Maria Tripplaar; on Mr. Takano's staff, Matt Reel and Heather O'Beirne Kelly. Lastly, I want to thank my legislative director, Mimi Bair, for all her hard work, and my chief of staff, Nick, for his hard work on this as well.

I know this is asking for a parting gift, but I would ask you all vote ``yea'' on this bill. I look forward to seeing this signed soon. I want to thank my colleagues for their bipartisan effort on this and earnest work to help our veterans.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1448, the ``PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act,'' which is bipartisan legislation that directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program on dog training therapy, and to amend title 38 of the United States Code to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide service dogs to veterans with mental illnesses who do not have mobility impairments.

This legislation will reduce veteran suicide connected to mental health conditions by partnering veterans experiencing symptoms of PTSD and other post-deployment issues with service dogs through a Department of Veterans Affairs pilot program.

Dog therapy programs have a track record of reducing symptoms associated with PTSD, and through this pilot program, veterans are expected to experience an improved quality of life and ability to reenter society as well as increased chances of survival.

Many veterans have had their lives changed--in some cases, saved--by service dogs, and this bill would expand this treatment by launching a pilot program to make veterans with mental health issues such as depression eligible to receive service dogs.

According to a report from the Department of Veteran Affairs:

the number of veterans with mental health conditions such as post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders increased from 27 percent in 2001 to more than 40 percent in 2014, and an average of 20 veterans per day died by suicide in 2014;

11 to 20 out of every 100 veterans (or between 11 and 20 percent) who served in operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom have PTSD in a given year;

12 out of every 100 Gulf War Veterans (or 12 percent) have PTSD in a given year; and

An average of 20 veterans a day die by suicide.

PTSD symptoms can include crippling anxiety, emotional control issues, fear of public spaces, drug abuse, and most tragically, suicide.

A recent study led by the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, found that veterans with service dogs produce more cortisol, a biomarker used as a metric of the effects of chronic and acute stress, than military veterans without a service dog in the home.

Moreover, veterans with service dogs reported having lower levels of anxiety, anger, sleep disturbances, and less alcohol abuse compared to veterans without service dogs.

We must do everything possible to combat veteran suicide, including innovative treatments like service dog therapy that address post- deployment mental health conditions.

Our veterans deserve every tool in the toolbox when it comes to their mental health, which is why I'm proud that this legislation encourages dog training therapy for veterans.

Congress can, and must, give veterans the opportunity to utilize the treatments that work best for them.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1448, as amended, the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers, or the PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act. This bill will help connect veterans with PTSD with service dogs by establishing a service dog training pilot program, supporting service dog training organizations, and authorizing the VA to provide veterans with PTSD service dogs and veterinarian assistance for those service dogs.

The PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act is sponsored by Congressman Steve Stivers from Ohio. Representative Stivers is an Army veteran. He has spent much of his congressional career advocating for his brothers and sisters in arms and has been a champion of this bill for many years. I am grateful for his leadership and commitment.

The PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act will further the lifesaving bond that exists between man's best friend and veterans in need, and it will continue our efforts to promote creative ways to support veterans who are struggling.

I am proud to be one of the 313 cosponsors of the PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act, and I am proud to vote in support of it today. I hope that all of my colleagues will join me.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Stivers). He is an Army officer himself, and is the chief sponsor of this bill who has also served in this body and does a great job of that. He will be dearly missed.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Rutherford).

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Before I close, I thank Chairman Takano for working with Representative Stivers and myself to find common ground. I would be remiss if I did not also thank Majority Leader Hoyer for his assistance, scheduling, and consideration of this legislation before Representative Stivers leaves the House of Representatives.

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act. I am incredibly proud to be co-leading this bipartisan bill to connect veterans with service dogs in their communities through a new pilot program at the VA.

There are two organizations in Livingston County in my district that train dogs and place them with veterans in need: Veteran Service Dogs in Howell, and Blue Star Service Dogs in Pinckney, Michigan.

In 2019, I had the chance to visit Blue Star Service Dogs. It was incredible to see these dogs in action and to hear directly from the veterans about how these remarkable animals are helping them heal from depression, PTSD, and so many other invisible service-related wounds.

The bill sets up a pilot program through the VA to partner with local nonprofits, just like the ones in my district, to create work-therapy programs for veterans to train and potentially adopt service dogs.

The issue is extremely personal to me. I am an Army wife, married to a 30-year Army officer and Apache pilot. I have a stepdaughter currently on Active Duty and another stepdaughter who is a doctor at the VA. I am also the mom of two wonderful rescue dogs, Rocky and Boomer.

I have seen how big of an impact service dogs can have on people's lives when it comes to dealing with mental illness, and that is why I am so passionate about this pilot program.

When we make the decision to send men and women in to fight for our country, we make the decision to support them for the rest of their lives.

The PAWS for Veterans Service Therapy Act helps us honor the commitment and will have a real impact on the day-to-day well-being of our veterans.

I want to thank Representative Stivers for his leadership on this issue, and wish him all the best as he departs Congress. He is a Republican, but much more concerning for me, he is from Ohio, and we have still managed to work closely together on this issue.

To my colleagues, if I can work with a graduate of Ohio State University, you can get on this darn bill. I urge both sides to join me in supporting the PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act.