Norton's DC National Guard Tuition Bill Passed by Subcommittee Today

Norton's D.C. National Guard Tuition Bill Passed by Subcommittee Today

WASHINGTON, DC - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), who last week welcomed home more than 100 troops in the D.C. National Guard (DCNG) returning from service in the Iraq war, today said, "A better welcome home is my bill to provide tuition assistance to D.C. National Guard members that passed today without opposition in the Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia Subcommittee." The Congresswoman's Major General David F. Wherley, Jr. D.C. National Guard Retention and College Access Act would permanently authorize higher education grants for members of the DCNG. The bill would provide grants of up to $6,000 a year; and allow DCNG Commanding officer shared jurisdiction over management of the program. The grants, to be used in combination with current Department of Defense education assistance, are a much needed recruiting and retention tool to make the DCNG competitive with other National Guards in the region.

Norton has been able to get some funding from the Appropriations Committee for several years, but the Office of Management and Budget regards this funding as an earmark, which endangers it as a continuing tuition benefit. By authorizing the tuition funding, the authorization would be permanent and immune to such challenge. The Congresswoman re-named her bill in honor of Maj. Gen. David F. Wherley, who had been a recently retired commanding general when he died, along with his wife, Ann, and seven others, when Metro trains collided on June 22, 2009.