‘I’m not waiting anymore’: GOP congressman wants to increase veteran access to service dogs – By Julio Rosas (Washington Examiner) / Sept 26 2019
A bipartisan bill has been introduced to expand the access of service dogs for veterans who are struggling with issues after their military service.
H.R. 4305, or the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers (PAWS) for Veterans Therapy Act, was introduced in early September with the support of four Republicans and four Democrats.
Rep. Steve Stivers sponsored the bill, who also serves in the Ohio National Guard as a Brigadier General. He told the Washington Examiner the legislation will create a pilot program at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to help veterans with mental health issues get service dogs.
The new bill combines H.R. 2225, the Veterans Dog Training Therapy Act, and H.R. 2327, the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers (PAWS) Act, which were introduced in the 115th Congress.
“The dog training will give these veterans a new mission and that’s training a dog for service. And the skills they learn in that training are something that is clinically shown to reduce the incidents of depression, to improve interpersonal relationships, to lower the risk of substance abuse, and to lower the instance of suicide,” the Ohio Republican explained.
Stivers said the bill also includes grants for organizations to help get more companion and service dogs for veterans who want them. The bill is projected to cost $12 million over the next five years, with most of the money being spent on grants for organizations to increase their capacity to train service dogs.
Stivers said that while a lot of political energy is now going to be focused on impeachment and its inquiry, this bill should be able to pass this legislative session.
“This a bipartisan, easy fix and we need to show the American people that we are doing real things, too,” he said. “To the extent they want to focus on impeachment, the Democratic majority, they can do that. But it shouldn’t take every ounce of oxygen out of the room on bipartisan, commonsense issues like this that are going to save veterans’ lives. And anybody would put politics above saving veterans’ lives should take that up with their voters.”
Stivers said simply having a dog has been shown to increase the quality of life for veterans. He added that veterans have told them they have either been able to take fewer medications or stop them completely.
“If you can do it with a service dog and get off the drugs, great; if you still need the drugs, that’s OK, too. But we’ve heard anecdotally a lot of people getting off the drugs as a result of these service dogs.”
Stivers said the reason why a bill like this has not become law yet is because the VA has been conducting a study on the effectiveness of service dogs for over four years and Congress wanted to wait on its completion. The VA is now saying the study will be completed this later this year.
“Well, I’m not waiting anymore. We can’t wait anymore. We have up to 22 military and veteran suicides a day. Why should we wait?”
Stivers is hoping to get a vote on H.R. 4305 by the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs by Veterans Day.
