Erik Paulsen: “The actions of the brave men and women in the military sacrifice so much for our country. Many of these soldiers on the…”

“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. ____________________”