I Wish Al Franken was My Senator

Al Franken (D-MN) has got his first piece of legislation - the Service Dogs for Veterans Act - on the President's desk:

The Veterans Administration would develop partnerships with organizations that provide disabled veterans with service dogs. Franken said he introduced the legislation after meeting a veteran who said his service dog improved his quality of life.

He said the measure will cost about $5 million and is designed to not edge out non-profits doing similar work.

"The government is going to pay for essentially every other dog. What I didn't want to happen was to dry up the funding for the organizations like Hearing and Service Dogs in Minneapolis and all of these non-profits who have been providing dogs to some vets."

Awesome! A rookie Senator getting bipartisan support (from some very wishy-washy Senators I might add) for his first piece of legislation, Franken says:

"There is evidence to suggest that increasing the number of service dogs would reduce the alarming suicide rate among veterans, decrease the number of hospitalizations, and lower the cost of medications and human care. We’re talking about a real return on investment that will pay dividends for these veterans for years to come.”

We often feel spurred to action when we disagree with the words and deeds of our elected officials. But we should thank them when they do good too. Why not take a moment to thank Senator Franken for recognizing the significance of the human-canine bond and its beneficial effects on the lives of our brave service men and women?