Major General David J. Wherley, Jr. Distrcit of Columbia National Guard Retention and College Access Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, as amended, H.R. 3913 would require the Mayor of the District of Columbia to establish a program to provide financial assistance to members of the District of Columbia National Guard to assist in covering higher education expenses. The Mayor would establish this program in coordination with the commander of the District of Columbia National Guard. Assistance would be capped at $6,000 per year per National Guard member.

H.R. 3913, as amended, authorizes appropriations to the District of Columbia for the assistance program. The bill would also authorize the transfer of funds from Federal agencies for providing assistance under the program. The initial authorization for the program is $370,000 in FY 2011. The bill would permit annual adjustments in succeeding years based on the tuition inflation index used by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for educational benefits. As amended, H.R. 3913 complies with PAYGO requirements.

Mr. Speaker, in addition, the bill seeks to name the bill after former General David Wherley of the District of Columbia National Guard.

Mr. Speaker, I told the D.C. National Guard's 547th Transportation Company when they were deployed to Iraq about a year ago that I would introduce several D.C. National Guard bills concerning their service. Today, we consider the Major General David F. Wherley, Jr. District of Columbia National Guard Retention and College Access Act to permanently authorize funding for a program to provide grants for secondary education tuition to the members of the D.C. National Guard.

The bill authorizes an education incentive program recommended by former Major General David Wherley and his successor, Major General Errol Schwartz, who suggested that education grants would be useful in stemming the troublesome loss of members of the D.C. Guard to units, in part, because surrounding States offer just such educational benefits.

I am grateful that the Appropriations Committee has allotted funds in some years, with smaller contributions from the District, in the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill. A permanent authorization is necessary, however, to ensure that D.C. National Guard members receive equal treatment and benefits with other National Guard members on a regular basis, especially with surrounding States that do, in fact, have the higher education benefits we seek for the D.C. National Guard. The Guard for the Nation's Capital is competing for members from the pool of regional residents who find membership in Maryland and Virginia Guards more financially beneficial.

Mr. Speaker, last week, on June 22, we marked the 1-year anniversary of the commemoration of the Metro collision here involving two Red Line trains that took the lives of nine area residents, seven from the District of Columbia, including a local hero, Major General David F. Wherley, Jr., and his wife Ann. This bill is named in honor of General Wherley, who not only served his country all his adult life and never forgot the men and women who served under him at home or at war, but also was particularly attentive to the residents of the District of Columbia, especially the city's most troubled youth. Thereafter, Congressman José Serrano, chair of the Committee on Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee, was good enough to offer this renaming in his appropriations bill last year and to appropriate the funds without authorization this year or in prior years.

Under General Wherley's command, the D.C. National Guard deployed several of its units to the global war on terrorism. General Wherley himself served courageously in both Iraq and Afghanistan, but at home he spent hours with me figuring out ways to get funds for programs for the District's children. We were successful, because he would show up, not only in my office, but wherever he was needed to get the funds to do the service for his men and for the children of this city.

General Wherley was a full-service leader. He not only commanded the D.C. National Guard; he worked closely with me and with city officials on programs for our city and its disadvantaged youth and for keeping our Guard competitive as a premier force at home as well as abroad.

The education incentives in this bill serve not only to encourage high-quality recruits, but, when appropriated, have had the important benefit of helping the D.C. National Guard to maintain the force necessary to protect the Federal presence, because this funding helps equalize an important benefit compared with what is offered by Guard units in surrounding jurisdictions which also are open to D.C. National Guard members.

While the appropriators have been good enough to provide funding for the D.C. National Guard by considering it a programmatic request, it is imperative that this important educational initiative be authorized appropriately to ensure its permanent sustainability.

I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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