S. 4079

PEARL Act

Sponsor: Ruben Gallego

5 cosponsors
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Official summary

Written by the Congressional Research Service.

Providing Emotional Assistance with Relief and Love Act or the PEARL Act

This bill requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to establish a pilot program to adopt dogs from local animal shelters to be trained as support dogs for CBP’s Support Canine Program. Support dogs are used for grief assistance, trauma mitigation, and morale.

Text of the bill

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Sec. 2. CBP support dog pilot program Changed · Sep 14

Where this section came from

  1. Mar 12, 2026 · Introduced in Senate Referred to Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Mar 12
  2. Sep 14, 2026 · Reported to Senate Marked up by Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Aug 6 Reported by Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Sep 14 Committee members' individual votes aren't in our records.
What changed in the text

… 2 unchanged passages …

(c) No additional funds. No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section.

What is a markup?

A markup is a committee meeting where members go through a bill and vote on changes before sending it to the full chamber.

(a) In general. Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), shall establish in CBP a pilot program to adopt dogs from local animal shelters to be trained as support dogs for CBP’s Support Canine Program.

(b) Duration. The pilot program under subsection (a) shall terminate three years after the date of its establishment.

(c) No additional funds. No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section.