S. 4079 119th Congress Senate

PEARL Act

Official title: A bill to establish in U.S. Customs and Border Protection a pilot program to adopt dogs from local animal shelters to be trained as support dogs, and for other purposes.

Introduced: March 12, 2026 Introduced by: Ruben Gallego Democratic · Arizona See on congress.gov

Immigration Animal protection and human-animal relationshipsBorder security and unlawful immigrationGovernment employee pay, benefits, personnel managementLaw enforcement officers

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Mental healthService animals

Everywhere this bill has been 5 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

Sep 14, 2026

Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 569.

Sep 14, 2026

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Paul with an amendment. Without written report.

Aug 6, 2026

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably.

Mar 12, 2026

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Mar 12, 2026

Introduced in Senate

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What's happening now September 14, 2026

Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 569.

Plain-English summary 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.

Hearings & markups 1

Business meeting to consider an original resolution regarding Contempt of Congress, S.2732, to strengthen employee cost…
Open Business Meeting Aug 6, 2026 · 8:30 AM EDT · Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee

Related & companion bills 2

Bill text 2 versions

Introduced in Senate Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
Reported to Senate Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

Committees of jurisdiction 1

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
Senate

Lobbying activity 3

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION
for NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION · District of Columbia · 3rd Quarter 2026 (July 1 - Sep 30)
NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION
for NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION · District of Columbia · 2nd Quarter 2026 (Apr 1 - June 30)
NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION
for NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION · District of Columbia · 1st Quarter 2026 (Jan 1 - Mar 31)

Bodies those filers lobbied

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
3 filings
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
3 filings
Energy, Dept of
3 filings
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
3 filings
Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
3 filings
Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
3 filings
General Services Administration (GSA)
3 filings
Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS)
3 filings

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

Cosponsors 5