Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) introduced on Thursday evening an amendment to a massive budget bill being debated by the Senate that would divert U.S. taxpayer funds meant to implement the Iran nuclear deal and, instead, give it to the Defense Department for the training and medical care of military dogs, including dogs who are deployed to war zones.
Cruz’s amendment, a copy of which was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, was filed as Amendment 838 and would divert around $10 million allocated to the State and Treasury Departments for implementing the 2015 nuclear accord—specifically money that would be spent by the Biden administration granting sanctions waivers—and give it to the Pentagon’s military dogs. The amendment is meant to proactively prevent the Biden administration from spending American taxpayer funds on its expected push to reenter the deal, which former President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018.
The Senate is debating the budget bill overnight, with a vote expected to carry on late into the evening and early morning. Once passed, it will move to the House.
The dogs, which play a vital support role in active wars, are primarily trained and rehabilitated after injuries by the 341st Training Squadron of the U.S. Air Force, based in Lackland, Texas.
A source familiar with Cruz’s thinking described several links between the topics: Many of the dogs injured and being cared for in Texas saw service in Iraq. They were instrumental in locating explosives provided to terrorist militia groups by the Iranian regime.
In 2019 a hero military dog, a male Belgian Malinois named Conan, played an instrumental role and was injured in the raid that eliminated ISIS terror leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.