Hearing of the House Rules Committee - Testimony by Rep. Norton - Hearing on Amendment to National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018

Hearing

My amendment would modernize the command structure of the District of Columbia National Guard and improve its ability to respond to local natural and man-made disasters and emergencies, while preserving its unique mission of protecting the federal government. The command structure of the D.C. National Guard is an anachronistic anomaly.

Every state, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands also have Guards. While each of these 53 Guards is a hybrid local-federal organization, they largely operate under local control. Governors are the heads of their respective Guards, and can activate the Guard for local purposes, while the President has the authority to federalize the Guard for federal purposes. In contrast, the D.C. Guard is under the exclusive control of the President, for both local and federal purposes.

My amendment would give the Mayor of the District of Columbia virtually the same authority over the D.C. Guard that governors have over their Guards. Only the Mayor has the necessary expertise and knowledge of the District to make the best decisions on when and how to deploy the D.C. Guard for local matters. The President's job is not to keep in touch with the ever-changing local needs and circumstances of the District. That is the job of the Mayor of the District of Columbia, a locally elected official.

We, of course, recognize that the D.C. Guard plays a unique role as the Guard for the nation's capital. Therefore, under my amendment, the Mayor, unlike governors, would have no authority to activate the Guard for homeland defense purposes. Instead, the President would retain exclusive control over the D.C. Guard to conduct homeland defense activities.

When the D.C. Guard was created in the early 1800s, D.C. did not have home rule, but in 1973 Congress gave the District a locally elected government. While it was understandable that the Home Rule Act of 1973 preserved the President's total authority over the D.C. Guard, because D.C. then had no experience with self-rule, D.C. now has more than 40 years of such experience. It is long past time to modernize the command structure of the D.C. Guard to ensure the safety of D.C. residents.

I urge you to make my amendment in order.

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