1.District of Columbia National
Guard Educational Assistance ProgramThe Act entitled An Act to provide
for the organization of the militia of the District of Columbia
,
approved March 1, 1889 (sec. 49–101 et seq., D.C. Official Code) is amended by
adding at the end the following new title:
<enum>II</enum><header>Educational
Assistance Program</header>
<section display-inline="no-display-inline" id="HD94A86E098A04AA4A7F3EFD5AD65525D" section-type="subsequent-section"><enum>201.</enum><header>Short title;
Findings</header>
<subsection id="H4F1706B2FC4948A1A403A81F128A6EAC"><enum>(a)</enum><header>Short
Title</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">This title may be cited
as the <quote><short-title>Major General David F. Wherley,
Jr. District of Columbia National Guard Retention and College Access
Act</short-title></quote>.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="HC1D6FDC7C4B84B459D9F7D854E7D413A"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Findings</header><text>Congress
makes the following findings:</text>
<paragraph id="H99E4BA54EFE64A9B84AE474F99A24E01"><enum>(1)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The District of Columbia National Guard is
under the exclusive jurisdiction of the President of the United States as
Commander-in-Chief and, unlike other National Guards, is permanently
federalized.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H88DE0F4D7FC24A358FD20DE54ED310EF"><enum>(2)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The District of Columbia National Guard is
unique and differs from the National Guards of the several States in that the
District of Columbia National Guard is responsible, not only for residents of
the District of Columbia, but also for a special and unique mission and
obligation as a result of the extensive presence of the Federal Government in
the District of Columbia.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H39D403D9C4AF4C13B7F453ADEFB6CF0B"><enum>(3)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">Consequently, the President of the United
States, rather than the chief executive of the District of Columbia, is in
command of the District of Columbia National Guard, and only the President can
call up the District of Columbia National Guard even for local
emergencies.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H60680408A0C54801A1E06A7E790E9A67"><enum>(4)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The District of Columbia National Guard has
been specifically trained to address the unique emergencies that may occur
regarding the presence of the Federal Government in the District of
Columbia.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H530BE0AEC24F4D1398F5704CEBA008E8"><enum>(5)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The great majority of the members of the
District of Columbia National Guard actually live in Maryland or Virginia,
rather than in the District of Columbia.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="HE9C9B54101E2436F95F43BAC0E2B061F"><enum>(6)</enum><text>The District of
Columbia National Guard has been experiencing a disproportionate decline in
force in comparison to the National Guards of Maryland and Virginia.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="HF68941106AD440B4B1DA426E5B0251D4"><enum>(7)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The States of Maryland and Virginia provide
additional recruiting and retention incentives, such as educational benefits,
in order to maintain their force, and their National Guards have drawn recruits
from the District of Columbia at a rate that puts at risk the maintenance of
the necessary force levels for the District of Columbia National Guard.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="HC8CC792D228D4638A102BC432E4DB0E5"><enum>(8)</enum><text>Funds for an
educational benefit for members of the District of Columbia National Guard
would provide an incentive to help reverse the loss of members to nearby
National Guards and allow for maintenance and increase of necessary District of
Columbia National Guard personnel.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H17BBCFB81AAB49248105AD647A720813"><enum>(9)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The loss of members of the District of
Columbia National Guard could adversely affect the readiness of the District of
Columbia National Guard to respond in the event of a terrorist attack on the
capital of the United States.</text>
</paragraph></subsection></section><section display-inline="no-display-inline" id="HFCDF6C29CE1F4DE7A07D8524071B4BAC" section-type="subsequent-section"><enum>202.</enum><header>District of Columbia
National Guard Educational Assistance Program</header>
<subsection display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H9EDF53D8AF2E4D32A08F20A32EDFF8C5"><enum>(a)</enum><header>Educational
assistance program authorized</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The Mayor of the District of Columbia, in
coordination with the commanding general of the District of Columbia National
Guard, shall establish a program under which the Mayor may provide financial
assistance to an eligible member of the District of Columbia National Guard to
assist the member in covering expenses incurred by the member while enrolled in
an approved institution of higher education to pursue the member’s first
undergraduate, masters, vocational, or technical degree or
certification.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="HF9B0988FDF2E4EBCA3A3E684B370F1CD"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Eligibility</header>
<paragraph id="HA0EEFA048DF247B7928C40CED0FC66BD"><enum>(1)</enum><header>Criteria</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">A member of the District of Columbia
National Guard is eligible to receive assistance under the program established
under this title if the commanding general of the District of Columbia National
Guard certifies to the Mayor the following:</text>
<subparagraph id="HC43B193C1DB440FE96AAADED77410139"><enum>(A)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The member has satisfactorily completed
required initial active duty service.</text>
</subparagraph><subparagraph id="HE436579BE9A7453DA7D2E4FD61C333C8"><enum>(B)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The member has executed a written agreement
to serve in the District of Columbia National Guard for a period of not less
than 6 years.</text>
</subparagraph><subparagraph id="HBF842CC9B23C41749A2FEFDE300F3ED9"><enum>(C)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The member is not receiving a Reserve
Officer Training Corps scholarship.</text>
</subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="H3AAFE2F8508E412AB6452F72E9386869"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Maintenance of
eligibility</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">To continue to be
eligible for financial assistance under the program, a member of the District
of Columbia National Guard must—</text>
<subparagraph id="H78CF2D1DB9A7458EB432313EE13C9B9E"><enum>(A)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">be satisfactorily performing duty in the
District of Columbia National Guard in accordance with regulations of the
National Guard (as certified to the Mayor by the commanding general of the
District of Columbia National Guard);</text>
</subparagraph><subparagraph id="HE830F8DF35674127989AE16CF8F003F8"><enum>(B)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">be enrolled on a full-time or part-time
basis (seeking to earn at least 3, but less than 12 credit hours per semester)
in an approved institution of higher education; and</text>
</subparagraph><subparagraph id="H94D6BE0D9E8F4F45BCB2AC5F100AD1F5"><enum>(C)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">maintain satisfactory progress in the
course of study the member is pursuing, determined in accordance with section
484(c) of the <act-name parsable-cite="HEA65">Higher Education Act of
1965</act-name> (20 U.S.C. 1091(c)).</text>
</subparagraph></paragraph></subsection></section><section display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H6B6DF3F7726642288E08CA30806581B3" section-type="subsequent-section"><enum>203.</enum><header>Treatment of
Assistance Provided</header>
<subsection display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H2124FCCEAC0E45469703FAB99A2C1218"><enum>(a)</enum><header>Permitted Use of
Funds</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">Financial assistance
received by a member of the District of Columbia National Guard under the
program under this title may be used to cover—</text>
<paragraph id="HA8E313EB3E8A4E1FB079E641DCC7361B"><enum>(1)</enum><text>tuition and fees
charged by an approved institution of higher education involved;</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H1108D73A32654C328A8C5C172F647E12"><enum>(2)</enum><text>the cost of books;
and</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H5AE05BA705724EE69AD4C05B388570E2"><enum>(3)</enum><text>laboratory
expenses.</text>
</paragraph></subsection><subsection display-inline="no-display-inline" id="HDA28A9751AF54AA283B64ECE16530908"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Amount of
assistance</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The amount of
financial assistance provided to a member of the District of Columbia National
Guard under the program may be up to $400 per credit hour, but not to exceed
$6,000 per year. If the Mayor determines that the amount available to provide
assistance under this title in any year will be insufficient, the Mayor may
reduce the maximum amount of the assistance authorized, or set a limit on the
number of participants, to ensure that amounts expended do not exceed available
amounts.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="HFBC889A4DCFF4AFF84EFA4776E064A06"><enum>(c)</enum><header>Relation to
other assistance</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">Except as
provided in section 202(b)(1)(C), a member of the District of Columbia National
Guard may receive financial assistance under the program in addition to
educational assistance provided under any other provision of law.</text>
</subsection><subsection id="H2C7DF3958BB242CFB77A322390E07BA0"><enum>(d)</enum><header>Repayment</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">A member of the District of Columbia
National Guard who receives assistance under the program and who, voluntarily
or because of misconduct, fails to serve for the period covered by the
agreement required by section 202(b)(1) or fails to comply with the eligibility
conditions specified in section 202(b)(2) shall be subject to the repayment
provisions of section 373 of title 37, United States Code.</text>
</subsection></section><section display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H19253CA501094CF3B076E0C8138C2792" section-type="subsequent-section"><enum>204.</enum><header>Administration and
Funding of Program</header>
<subsection id="H4E6250EB8963486B8CD21175B9397E99"><enum>(a)</enum><header>Administration</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The Mayor, in coordination with the
commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard and in
consultation with approved institutions of higher education, shall develop
policies and procedures for the administration of the program under this title.
Nothing in this title shall be construed to require an institution of higher
education to alter the institution’s admissions policies or standards in any
manner to enable a member of the District of Columbia National Guard to enroll
in the institution.</text>
</subsection><subsection display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H8366D1255BCF40A9855F907D9014BB82"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Funding sources
and gifts</header>
<paragraph display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H814390F26DB34C648A1C9BD3B9943F10"><enum>(1)</enum><header>Authorization of
appropriations</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">There are
authorized to be appropriated to the District of Columbia such sums as may be
necessary to enable the Mayor to provide financial assistance under the
program. Funds appropriated pursuant to this authorization of appropriations
shall remain available until expended.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="HAEA5439CD370411F99FD652A28CFF184"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Transfer of
funds</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The Mayor may accept
the transfer of funds from Federal agencies and use any funds so transferred
for purposes of providing assistance under the program. There is authorized to
be appropriated to the head of any executive branch agency such sums as may be
necessary to permit the transfer of funds to the Mayor to provide financial
assistance under this section.</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="HACC61B2F236243CAB3FAE40BE0380576"><enum>(3)</enum><header>Donations</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The Mayor may accept, use, and dispose of
donations of services or property for purposes of providing assistance under
the program.</text>
</paragraph></subsection></section><section display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H50F00E81DC814BF7AD46A95C1E9DA798" section-type="subsequent-section"><enum>205.</enum><header>Definition</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">In this title, the term <term>approved
institution of higher education</term> means an institution of higher education
(as defined in section 102 of the <act-name parsable-cite="HEA65">Higher
Education Act of 1965</act-name> (20 U.S.C. 1002)) that—</text>
<paragraph id="H23888CE24F0144139BF19E4DA40BB3F6"><enum>(1)</enum><text>is eligible to
participate in the student financial assistance programs under title IV of the
<act-name parsable-cite="HEA65">Higher Education Act of 1965</act-name> (20
U.S.C. 1070 et seq.); and</text>
</paragraph><paragraph id="H9CF8733562C94921A1EC7F8DAEAB467C"><enum>(2)</enum><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">has entered into an agreement with the
Mayor containing an assurance that funds made available under this title are
used to supplement and not supplant other assistance that may be available for
members of the District of Columbia National Guard.</text>
</paragraph></section><section display-inline="no-display-inline" id="H44FB992B544345E094078495BD3A7D4A" section-type="subsequent-section"><enum>206.</enum><header>Effective
Date</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">Financial assistance may
be provided under the program under this title to eligible members of the
District of Columbia National Guard for periods of instruction that begin on or
after January 1,
2011.</text>
</section>.