Biden Joins Effort to Give National Guard More Muscle

Biden Joins Effort to Give National Guard More Muscle

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. announced today that the U.S. Senate has gone on record to support a stronger role for the National Guard Chief. Senator Biden joined with Senators Kit Bond (R-MO) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in cosponsoring a bipartisan effort to give the National Guard more power by elevating its status within the Department of Defense (DOD).

"Despite the undeniably critical role our National Guard men and women play in Iraq, Afghanistan and here at home, they lack proper equipment, are allocated very little of the DOD's annual budget and they do not have a seat at the table when it comes to making important policy decisions," said Senator Biden. "This amendment seeks to rectify that by elevating the Guard chief to a four-star status and formally recognizing the important place our citizen soldiers have in our national security structure."

Specifically, the amendment will:

• Elevate the Chief of the National Guard to a four-star position;

• Make the Deputy Commander of the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) a member of the National Guard to ensure NORTHCOM initiatives take into consideration the needs of the Guard;

• Give the National Guard Bureau the ability to identify and validate technology and equipment needs essential to its mission;

• Allow the National Guard Bureau to establish more direct lines of communication with the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, state and federal agencies.

The amendment was included in the annual Department of Defense Authorization Bill currently being considered by the U.S. Senate.

http://biden.senate.gov/newsroom/details.cfm?id=257638&&