I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5568 

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 8, 2006 

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

Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘District of Columbia 

5 National Guard Retention and College Access Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NATIONAL GUARD EDU2 CATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

3 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find4 ings: 

5 (1) The District of Columbia National Guard is 

6 under the exclusive jurisdiction of the President of 

7 the United States as Commander-in-Chief and, un8 like other National Guards, is permanently federal9 ized. 

10 (2) The District of Columbia National Guard is 

11 unique and differs from the National Guards of the 

12 several States in that the District of Columbia Na13 tional Guard is responsible, not only for residents of 

14 the District of Columbia, but also for a special and 

15 unique mission and obligation as a result of the ex16 tensive presence of the Federal Government in the 

17 District of Columbia. 

18 (3) Consequently, the President of the United 

19 States, rather than the chief executive of the Dis20 trict of Columbia, is in command of the District of 

21 Columbia National Guard, and only the President 

22 can call up the District of Columbia National Guard 

23 even for local emergencies. 

24 (4) The District of Columbia National Guard 

25 has been specifically trained to address the unique 

26 emergencies that may occur regarding the presence 


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1 of the Federal Government in the District of Colum2 bia. 

3 (5) The great majority of the members of the 

4 District of Columbia National Guard actually live in 

5 Maryland or Virginia, rather than in the District of 

6 Columbia. 

7 (6) The District of Columbia National Guard 

8 has been experiencing a disproportionate decline in 

9 force in comparison to the National Guards of Mary10 land and Virginia. 

11 (7) The States of Maryland and Virginia pro12 vide additional recruiting and retention incentives, 

13 such as educational benefits, in order to maintain 

14 their force, and their National Guards have drawn 

15 recruits from the District of Columbia at a rate that 

16 puts at risk the maintenance of the necessary force 

17 levels for the District of Columbia National Guard. 

18 (8) Funds for an educational benefit for mem19 bers of the District of Columbia National Guard 

20 would provide an incentive to help reverse the loss 

21 of members to nearby National Guards and allow for 

22 maintenance and increase of necessary District of 

23 Columbia National Guard personnel. 

24 (9) The loss of members of the District of Co25 lumbia National Guard could adversely affect the 


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1 readiness of the District of Columbia National 

2 Guard to respond in the event of a terrorist attack 

3 on the capital of the United States. 

4 (b) EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM AUTHOR5 IZED.—The commanding general of the District of Colum6 bia National Guard (in this section referred to as the 

7 ‘‘commanding general’’) may provide financial assistance 

8 under this section to a member of the District of Columbia 

9 National Guard who has satisfactorily completed required 

10 initial active duty service and executes a written agree11 ment to serve in the District of Columbia National Guard 

12 for a period of not less than six years, to assist the mem13 ber in covering expenses incurred by the member while en14 rolled in an approved institution of higher education to 

15 pursue the member’s first undergraduate, masters, voca16 tional, or technical degree or certification. 

17 (c) MAINTENANCE OF ELIGIBILITY.—To continue to 

18 be eligible for financial assistance under this section, a 

19 member of the District of Columbia National Guard 

20 must— 

21 (1) be satisfactorily performing duty in the Dis22 trict of Columbia National Guard in accordance with 

23 regulations of the National Guard; 

24 (2) be enrolled on a full-time or part-time basis 

25 (at least three, but less than twelve credit hours per 


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1 semester) in an approved institution of higher edu2 cation; and 

3 (3) maintain satisfactory progress in the course 

4 of study the member is pursuing, determined in ac5 cordance with section 484(c) of the Higher Edu6 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091(c)). 

7 (d) COVERED EXPENSES.—Financial assistance re8 ceived by a member of the District of Columbia National 

9 Guard under this section may be used to cover— 

10 (1) tuition and fees charged by an approved in11 stitution of higher education involved; 

12 (2) the cost of books; and 

13 (3) laboratory expenses. 

14 (e) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—The amount of finan15 cial assistance provided to a member of the District of Co16 lumbia National Guard under this section may be up to 

17 $400 per credit hour, but not to exceed $5,500 per year. 

18 If the commanding general determines that the amount 

19 available to provide assistance under this section in any 

20 year will be insufficient, the commanding general may re21 duce the maximum amount of the assistance authorized, 

22 or set a limit on the number of participants, to ensure 

23 that amounts expended do not exceed available amounts. 

24 (f) RELATION TO OTHER ASSISTANCE.—A member 

25 of the District of Columbia National Guard may receive 


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1 financial assistance under this section in addition to as2 sistance provided under any other provision of law, except 

3 that the member may not receive financial assistance 

4 under this section if the member receives a Reserve Officer 

5 Training Corps scholarship. 

6 (g) ADMINISTRATION.—The commanding general, in 

7 consultation with approved institutions of higher edu8 cation, shall develop policies and procedures for the ad9 ministration of this section. Nothing in this section shall 

10 be construed to require an institution of higher education 

11 to alter the institution’s admissions policies or standards 

12 in any manner to enable a member of the District of Co13 lumbia National Guard to enroll in the institution. 

14 (h) REPAYMENT.—A member of the District of Co15 lumbia National Guard who receives assistance under this 

16 section and who, voluntarily or because of misconduct, 

17 fails to serve for the period covered by the agreement re18 quired by subsection (b) or fails to comply with the eligi19 bility conditions specified in subsection (c) shall be subject 

20 to the repayment provisions of section 303a(e) of title 37, 

21 United States Code. 

22 (i) FUNDING SOURCES AND GIFTS.— 

23 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Dis25 trict of Columbia such sums as may be necessary to 


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1 enable the commanding general to provide financial 

2 assistance under this section. Funds appropriated 

3 pursuant to this authorization of appropriations 

4 shall remain available until expended. 

5 (2) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—The commanding 

6 general may accept the transfer of funds from Fed7 eral agencies and use any funds so transferred for 

8 purposes of providing assistance under this section. 

9 There is authorized to be appropriated to the head 

10 of any executive branch agency such sums as may 

11 be necessary to permit the transfer of funds to the 

12 commanding general to provide financial assistance 

13 under this section. 

14 (3) DONATIONS.—The commanding general 

15 concerned may accept, use, and dispose of donations 

16 of services or property for purposes of providing as17 sistance under this section. 

18 (j) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘approved 

19 institution of higher education’’ means an institution of 

20 higher education (as defined in section 102 of the Higher 

21 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)) that— 

22 (1) is eligible to participate in the student fi23 nancial assistance programs under title IV of the 

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

25 seq.); and 


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1 (2) has entered into an agreement with the 

2 commanding general containing an assurance that 

3 funds made available under this section are used to 

4 supplement and not supplant other assistance that 

5 may be available for members of the District of Co6 lumbia National Guard. 

7 (k) IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAM.—Financial as8 sistance may be provided under this section to eligible 

9 members of the District of Columbia National Guard for 

10 periods of instruction that begin on or after January 1, 

11 2007. 

Æ 


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