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Norton to Speak at D.C. National Guard Deployment Ceremony, This Morning

Press Release

Date: March 25, 2014
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Defense

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will speak at the deployment ceremony for the D.C. National Guard's 1946th Support Detachment today at 10:00 a.m. at the D.C. National Guard Armory (2001 East Capitol St. SE). Norton, who has seen off every deployment and welcomed every return of the D.C. National Guard during her congressional service will give remarks to the D.C. National Guard's 1946th Support Detachment -- a contracting support element -- which will deploy four soldiers in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Two will deploy to Afghanistan and two will deploy to Qatar. Support Detachments are a critically important support element whose mission is to provide purchasing support for requirements that often fall outside of the U.S. military supply system, such as language translation services, barricades, construction equipment and supplies.

"Budget cuts topped off by the sequester have left the Army once again calling on the D.C. National Guard," said Norton. "We are still sending off our Guard soldiers when so many Army troops are finally coming home. Yet the D.C. National Guard is our best protection at home from the bizarre climate we have been experiencing."

For years now, Norton has gotten annual appropriations to encourage the enlistment and retention in the D.C. National Guard by providing financial assistance to attend undergraduate, vocational, or technical courses through the District of Columbia National Guard Retention and College Access Program. Normally, most funding for the National Guard comes from states, but because the D.C. National Guard is 100 percent federally run, and because the mayor lacks jurisdiction to call them up, Norton has insisted that the annual education funding come from the federal government. Norton thanked appropriators for including $375,000 in funding again for the District of Columbia National Guard Retention and College Access Program in the fiscal year 2014 omnibus spending bill.


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