[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6255 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6255

To direct the Mayor of the District of Columbia 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

                             March 12, 2020

  Ms. Norton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on Oversight and Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Mayor of the District of Columbia 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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NATIONAL GUARD EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE 
              PROGRAM.

    The 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:

               ``TITLE II--EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

``SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.

    ``(a) Short Title.--This title may be cited as the `Major General 
David F. Wherley, Jr. District of Columbia National Guard Retention and 
College Access Act'.
    ``(b) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            ``(1) 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.
            ``(2) 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.
            ``(3) 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.
            ``(4) 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.
            ``(5) 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.
            ``(6) The District of Columbia National Guard has been 
        experiencing a disproportionate decline in force in comparison 
        to the National Guards of Maryland and Virginia.
            ``(7) 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.
            ``(8) 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.
            ``(9) 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.

``SEC. 202. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NATIONAL GUARD EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE 
              PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Educational Assistance Program Authorized.--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, doctoral, vocational, or technical degree or 
certification.
    ``(b) Eligibility.--
            ``(1) Criteria.--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:
                    ``(A) The member has satisfactorily completed 
                required initial active duty service.
                    ``(B) 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.
                    ``(C) The member is not receiving a Reserve Officer 
                Training Corps scholarship.
            ``(2) Maintenance of eligibility.--To continue to be 
        eligible for financial assistance under the program, a member 
        of the District of Columbia National Guard must--
                    ``(A) 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);
                    ``(B) 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
                    ``(C) maintain satisfactory progress in the course 
                of study the member is pursuing, determined in 
                accordance with section 484(c) of the Higher Education 
                Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091(c)).

``SEC. 203. TREATMENT OF ASSISTANCE PROVIDED.

    ``(a) Permitted Use of Funds.--Financial assistance received by a 
member of the District of Columbia National Guard under the program 
under this title may be used to cover--
            ``(1) tuition and fees charged by an approved institution 
        of higher education involved;
            ``(2) the cost of books; and
            ``(3) laboratory expenses.
    ``(b) Cap on Amount of Assistance.--
            ``(1) In general.--The amount of financial assistance 
        provided to a member of the District of Columbia National Guard 
        under the program may not exceed the following:
                    ``(A) In the case of fees and laboratory expenses, 
                $500 per year.
                    ``(B) In the case of books, $500 per year.
                    ``(C) In the case of tuition, $10,000 per year.
            ``(2) Adjustments in case of insufficient funding.--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 amounts of the assistance 
        authorized, or set a limit on the number of participants, to 
        ensure that amounts expended do not exceed available amounts.
    ``(c) Relation to Other Assistance.--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.
    ``(d) Repayment.--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.

``SEC. 204. ADMINISTRATION AND FUNDING OF PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Administration.--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.
    ``(b) Funding Sources and Gifts.--
            ``(1) Authorization of appropriations.--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.
            ``(2) Transfer of funds.--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.
            ``(3) Donations.--The Mayor may accept, use, and dispose of 
        donations of services or property for purposes of providing 
        assistance under the program.

``SEC. 205. DEFINITION.

    ``In this title, the term `approved institution of higher 
education' means an institution of higher education (as defined in 
section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)) 
that--
            ``(1) is eligible to participate in the student financial 
        assistance programs under title IV of the Higher Education Act 
        of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.); and
            ``(2) 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.

``SEC. 206. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    ``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, 2020.''.
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