I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3323 

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 

JULY 23, 2009 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Major General David 

3 F. Wherley, Jr. District of Columbia National Guard Re4 tention and College Access Act of 2009’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NATIONAL GUARD EDU6 CATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 

9 (1) The District of Columbia National Guard is 

10 under the exclusive jurisdiction of the President of 

11 the United States as Commander-in-Chief and, un12 like other National Guards, is permanently federal13 ized. 

14 (2) The District of Columbia National Guard is 

15 unique and differs from the National Guards of the 

16 several States in that the District of Columbia Na17 tional Guard is responsible, not only for residents of 

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

19 unique mission and obligation as a result of the ex20 tensive presence of the Federal Government in the 

21 District of Columbia. 

22 (3) Consequently, the President of the United 

23 States, rather than the chief executive of the Dis24 trict of Columbia, is in command of the District of 

25 Columbia National Guard, and only the President 


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1 can call up the District of Columbia National Guard 

2 even for local emergencies. 

3 (4) The District of Columbia National Guard 

4 has been specifically trained to address the unique 

5 emergencies that may occur regarding the presence 

6 of the Federal Government in the District of Colum7 bia. 

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

9 District of Columbia National Guard actually live in 

10 Maryland or Virginia, rather than in the District of 

11 Columbia. 

12 (6) The District of Columbia National Guard 

13 has been experiencing a disproportionate decline in 

14 force in comparison to the National Guards of Mary15 land and Virginia. 

16 (7) The States of Maryland and Virginia pro17 vide additional recruiting and retention incentives, 

18 such as educational benefits, in order to maintain 

19 their force, and their National Guards have drawn 

20 recruits from the District of Columbia at a rate that 

21 puts at risk the maintenance of the necessary force 

22 levels for the District of Columbia National Guard. 

23 (8) Funds for an educational benefit for mem24 bers of the District of Columbia National Guard 

25 would provide an incentive to help reverse the loss 


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1 of members to nearby National Guards and allow for 

2 maintenance and increase of necessary District of 

3 Columbia National Guard personnel. 

4 (9) The loss of members of the District of Co5 lumbia National Guard could adversely affect the 

6 readiness of the District of Columbia National 

7 Guard to respond in the event of a terrorist attack 

8 on the capital of the United States. 

9 (b) EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM AUTHOR10 IZED.—The commanding general of the District of Colum11 bia National Guard (in this section referred to as the 

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

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

14 National Guard who has satisfactorily completed required 

15 initial active duty service and executes a written agree16 ment to serve in the District of Columbia National Guard 

17 for a period of not less than six years, to assist the mem18 ber in covering expenses incurred by the member while en19 rolled in an approved institution of higher education to 

20 pursue the member’s first undergraduate, masters, voca21 tional, or technical degree or certification. 

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

23 be eligible for financial assistance under this section, a 

24 member of the District of Columbia National Guard 

25 must— 


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1 (1) be satisfactorily performing duty in the Dis2 trict of Columbia National Guard in accordance with 

3 regulations of the National Guard; 

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

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

6 semester) in an approved institution of higher edu7 cation; and 

8 (3) maintain satisfactory progress in the course 

9 of study the member is pursuing, determined in ac10 cordance with section 484(c) of the Higher Edu11 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091(c)). 

12 (d) COVERED EXPENSES.—Financial assistance re13 ceived by a member of the District of Columbia National 

14 Guard under this section may be used to cover— 

15 (1) tuition and fees charged by an approved in16 stitution of higher education involved; 

17 (2) the cost of books; and 

18 (3) laboratory expenses. 

19 (e) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—The amount of finan20 cial assistance provided to a member of the District of Co21 lumbia National Guard under this section may be up to 

22 $400 per credit hour, but not to exceed $5,500 per year. 

23 If the commanding general determines that the amount 

24 available to provide assistance under this section in any 

25 year will be insufficient, the commanding general may reVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:10 Jul 25, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3323.IH H3323

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1 duce the maximum amount of the assistance authorized, 

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

3 that amounts expended do not exceed available amounts. 

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

5 of the District of Columbia National Guard may receive 

6 financial assistance under this section in addition to as7 sistance provided under any other provision of law, except 

8 that the member may not receive financial assistance 

9 under this section if the member receives a Reserve Officer 

10 Training Corps scholarship. 

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

12 consultation with approved institutions of higher edu13 cation, shall develop policies and procedures for the ad14 ministration of this section. Nothing in this section shall 

15 be construed to require an institution of higher education 

16 to alter the institution’s admissions policies or standards 

17 in any manner to enable a member of the District of Co18 lumbia National Guard to enroll in the institution. 

19 (h) REPAYMENT.—A member of the District of Co20 lumbia National Guard who receives assistance under this 

21 section and who, voluntarily or because of misconduct, 

22 fails to serve for the period covered by the agreement re23 quired by subsection (b) or fails to comply with the eligi24 bility conditions specified in subsection (c) shall be subject 


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1 to the repayment provisions of section 373 of title 37, 

2 United States Code. 

3 (i) FUNDING SOURCES AND GIFTS.— 

4 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Dis6 trict of Columbia such sums as may be necessary to 

7 enable the commanding general to provide financial 

8 assistance under this section. Funds appropriated 

9 pursuant to this authorization of appropriations 

10 shall remain available until expended. 

11 (2) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—The commanding 

12 general may accept the transfer of funds from Fed13 eral agencies and use any funds so transferred for 

14 purposes of providing assistance under this section. 

15 There is authorized to be appropriated to the head 

16 of any executive branch agency such sums as may 

17 be necessary to permit the transfer of funds to the 

18 commanding general to provide financial assistance 

19 under this section. 

20 (3) DONATIONS.—The commanding general 

21 concerned may accept, use, and dispose of donations 

22 of services or property for purposes of providing as23 sistance under this section. 

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

25 institution of higher education’’ means an institution of 


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

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

3 (1) is eligible to participate in the student fi4 nancial assistance programs under title IV of the 

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

6 seq.); and 

7 (2) has entered into an agreement with the 

8 commanding general containing an assurance that 

9 funds made available under this section are used to 

10 supplement and not supplant other assistance that 

11 may be available for members of the District of Co12 lumbia National Guard. 

13 (k) IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAM.—Financial as14 sistance may be provided under this section to eligible 

15 members of the District of Columbia National Guard for 

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

17 2010. 

Æ 


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