I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2860 

To direct the Mayor of the District of Columbia to establish a District 

of Columbia National Guard Educational Assistance Program to encourage the enlistment and retention of persons in the District of Columbia 

National Guard by providing financial assistance to enable members 

of the National Guard of the District of Columbia to attend undergraduate, vocational, or technical courses. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 23, 2015 

Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To direct the Mayor of the District of Columbia to establish 

a District of Columbia National Guard Educational Assistance Program to encourage the enlistment and retention of persons in the District of Columbia National 

Guard by providing financial assistance to enable members of the National Guard of the District of Columbia 

to attend undergraduate, vocational, or technical courses. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NATIONAL GUARD 

2 EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

3 The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the organiza4 tion of the militia of the District of Columbia’’, approved 

5 March 1, 1889 (sec. 49—101 et seq., D.C. Official Code) 

6 is amended by adding at the end the following new title: 

7 ‘‘TITLE II—EDUCATIONAL 

8 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM 

9 ‘‘SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 

10 ‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This title may be cited as the 

11 ‘Major General David F. Wherley, Jr. District of Colum12 bia National Guard Retention and College Access Act’. 

13 ‘‘(b) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find14 ings: 

15 ‘‘(1) The District of Columbia National Guard 

16 is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the President of 

17 the United States as Commander-in-Chief and, un18 like other National Guards, is permanently federal19 ized. 

20 ‘‘(2) The District of Columbia National Guard 

21 is unique and differs from the National Guards of 

22 the several States in that the District of Columbia 

23 National Guard is responsible, not only for residents 

24 of the District of Columbia, but also for a special 

25 and unique mission and obligation as a result of the 


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1 extensive presence of the Federal Government in the 

2 District of Columbia. 

3 ‘‘(3) Consequently, the President of the United 

4 States, rather than the chief executive of the Dis5 trict of Columbia, is in command of the District of 

6 Columbia National Guard, and only the President 

7 can call up the District of Columbia National Guard 

8 even for local emergencies. 

9 ‘‘(4) The District of Columbia National Guard 

10 has been specifically trained to address the unique 

11 emergencies that may occur regarding the presence 

12 of the Federal Government in the District of Colum13 bia. 

14 ‘‘(5) The great majority of the members of the 

15 District of Columbia National Guard actually live in 

16 Maryland or Virginia, rather than in the District of 

17 Columbia. 

18 ‘‘(6) The District of Columbia National Guard 

19 has been experiencing a disproportionate decline in 

20 force in comparison to the National Guards of Mary21 land and Virginia. 

22 ‘‘(7) The States of Maryland and Virginia pro23 vide additional recruiting and retention incentives, 

24 such as educational benefits, in order to maintain 

25 their force, and their National Guards have drawn 


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1 recruits from the District of Columbia at a rate that 

2 puts at risk the maintenance of the necessary force 

3 levels for the District of Columbia National Guard. 

4 ‘‘(8) Funds for an educational benefit for mem5 bers of the District of Columbia National Guard 

6 would provide an incentive to help reverse the loss 

7 of members to nearby National Guards and allow for 

8 maintenance and increase of necessary District of 

9 Columbia National Guard personnel. 

10 ‘‘(9) The loss of members of the District of Co11 lumbia National Guard could adversely affect the 

12 readiness of the District of Columbia National 

13 Guard to respond in the event of a terrorist attack 

14 on the capital of the United States. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 202. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NATIONAL GUARD EDU16 CATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

17 ‘‘(a) EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM AUTHOR18 IZED.—The Mayor of the District of Columbia, in coordi19 nation with the commanding general of the District of Co20 lumbia National Guard, shall establish a program under 

21 which the Mayor may provide financial assistance to an 

22 eligible member of the District of Columbia National 

23 Guard to assist the member in covering expenses incurred 

24 by the member while enrolled in an approved institution 

25 of higher education to pursue the member’s first underVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Jun 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2860.IH H2860

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1 graduate, masters, vocational, or technical degree or cer2 tification. 

3 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

4 ‘‘(1) CRITERIA.—A member of the District of 

5 Columbia National Guard is eligible to receive assist6 ance under the program established under this title 

7 if the commanding general of the District of Colum8 bia National Guard certifies to the Mayor the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(A) The member has satisfactorily com11 pleted required initial active duty service. 

12 ‘‘(B) The member has executed a written 

13 agreement to serve in the District of Columbia 

14 National Guard for a period of not less than 6 

15 years. 

16 ‘‘(C) The member is not receiving a Re17 serve Officer Training Corps scholarship. 

18 ‘‘(2) MAINTENANCE OF ELIGIBILITY.—To con19 tinue to be eligible for financial assistance under the 

20 program, a member of the District of Columbia Na21 tional Guard must— 

22 ‘‘(A) be satisfactorily performing duty in 

23 the District of Columbia National Guard in ac24 cordance with regulations of the National 

25 Guard (as certified to the Mayor by the comVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Jun 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2860.IH H2860

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1 manding general of the District of Columbia 

2 National Guard); 

3 ‘‘(B) be enrolled on a full-time or part-time 

4 basis (seeking to earn at least 3, but less than 

5 12 credit hours per semester) in an approved 

6 institution of higher education; and 

7 ‘‘(C) maintain satisfactory progress in the 

8 course of study the member is pursuing, deter9 mined in accordance with section 484(c) of the 

10 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

11 1091(c)). 

12 ‘‘SEC. 203. TREATMENT OF ASSISTANCE PROVIDED. 

13 ‘‘(a) PERMITTED USE OF FUNDS.—Financial assist14 ance received by a member of the District of Columbia 

15 National Guard under the program under this title may 

16 be used to cover— 

17 ‘‘(1) tuition and fees charged by an approved 

18 institution of higher education involved; 

19 ‘‘(2) the cost of books; and 

20 ‘‘(3) laboratory expenses. 

21 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—The amount of fi22 nancial assistance provided to a member of the District 

23 of Columbia National Guard under the program may be 

24 up to $400 per credit hour, but not to exceed $6,000 per 

25 year. If the Mayor determines that the amount available 


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1 to provide assistance under this title in any year will be 

2 insufficient, the Mayor may reduce the maximum amount 

3 of the assistance authorized, or set a limit on the number 

4 of participants, to ensure that amounts expended do not 

5 exceed available amounts. 

6 ‘‘(c) RELATION TO OTHER ASSISTANCE.—Except as 

7 provided in section 202(b)(1)(C), a member of the District 

8 of Columbia National Guard may receive financial assist9 ance under the program in addition to educational assist10 ance provided under any other provision of law. 

11 ‘‘(d) REPAYMENT.—A member of the District of Co12 lumbia National Guard who receives assistance under the 

13 program and who, voluntarily or because of misconduct, 

14 fails to serve for the period covered by the agreement re15 quired by section 202(b)(1) or fails to comply with the 

16 eligibility conditions specified in section 202(b)(2) shall be 

17 subject to the repayment provisions of section 373 of title 

18 37, United States Code. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 204. ADMINISTRATION AND FUNDING OF PROGRAM. 

20 ‘‘(a) ADMINISTRATION.—The Mayor, in coordination 

21 with the commanding general of the District of Columbia 

22 National Guard and in consultation with approved institu23 tions of higher education, shall develop policies and proce24 dures for the administration of the program under this 

25 title. Nothing in this title shall be construed to require 


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1 an institution of higher education to alter the institution’s 

2 admissions policies or standards in any manner to enable 

3 a member of the District of Columbia National Guard to 

4 enroll in the institution. 

5 ‘‘(b) FUNDING SOURCES AND GIFTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

7 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Dis8 trict of Columbia such sums as may be necessary to 

9 enable the Mayor to provide financial assistance 

10 under the program. Funds appropriated pursuant to 

11 this authorization of appropriations shall remain 

12 available until expended. 

13 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—The Mayor may 

14 accept the transfer of funds from Federal agencies 

15 and use any funds so transferred for purposes of 

16 providing assistance under the program. There is 

17 authorized to be appropriated to the head of any ex18 ecutive branch agency such sums as may be nec19 essary to permit the transfer of funds to the Mayor 

20 to provide financial assistance under this section. 

21 ‘‘(3) DONATIONS.—The Mayor may accept, use, 

22 and dispose of donations of services or property for 

23 purposes of providing assistance under the program. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 205. DEFINITION. 

2 ‘‘In this title, the term ‘approved institution of higher 

3 education’ means an institution of higher education (as 

4 defined in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 

5 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)) that— 

6 ‘‘(1) is eligible to participate in the student fi7 nancial assistance programs under title IV of the 

8 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et 

9 seq.); and 

10 ‘‘(2) has entered into an agreement with the 

11 Mayor containing an assurance that funds made 

12 available under this title are used to supplement and 

13 not supplant other assistance that may be available 

14 for members of the District of Columbia National 

15 Guard. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 206. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

17 ‘‘Financial assistance may be provided under the pro18 gram under this title to eligible members of the District 

19 of Columbia National Guard for periods of instruction 

20 that begin on or after January 1, 2015.’’. 

Æ 


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