Norton to Try and Raise Spirits of D.C. National Guard off to Iraq Tomorrow (5/30/07)

Norton to Try and Raise Spirits of D.C. National Guard off to Iraq Tomorrow
May 30, 2007

Washington, DC - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a strong opponent of the Iraq War and an avid advocate for the D.C. National Guard, will speak this evening, Wednesday, May 30, at 6:00 PM at a mobilization ceremony at the D.C. Armory, 2001 East Capitol Street, SE., for D.C. Army National Guard troops who are being deployed as part of Bush's Iraq War surge. One hundred thirty one members of the 275th Military Police Company are leaving tomorrow for at least 12 months, first heading to Camp Shelby in Mississippi. This is the first "Operation Iraqi Freedom" assignment for this unit. However, another D.C. Guard unit remains in Iraq and a third was sent to Afghanistan and returned in 2003.

"Whether our Guard is serving at home, in Iraq, in Louisiana on Katrina duty or elsewhere, makes no difference in the degree of our support for our troops," Norton said. "As much as I regret and oppose the surge, I will spend this evening raising the spirits of our Guard and their families who have given so much to the District of Columbia and to our country."