[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 81 (Friday, June 1, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E948]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  REPRESENTATIVE KIND FLOOR AMENDMENT 67 (RULES AMENDMENT 143) TO THE 
             NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT (H.R. 4310)

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                             HON. RON KIND

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 1, 2012

  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the amendment to 
permit the National Guard and Federal agencies performing homeland 
defense activities to enter into a military cooperative agreement with 
facilities capable of providing emergency response training.
  Providing our National Guard units and public service employees with 
increased opportunities to train at the state of the art homeland 
defense training facilities is just plain commonsense. It's a win for 
the military and service personnel who will be better prepared to 
safely work in the field and a win for the local communities, who will 
see local job creation.
  My amendment does not call for any increase in funding. It is simply 
a legislative fix to allow the training facilities to competitively bid 
for training contracts with the National Guard and Federal agencies. 
This will allow for additional, comprehensive training for those who 
are on the front lines during a domestic emergency.
  I encourage my colleagues to support this amendment to ensure that 
our National Guard and homeland disaster first responders have all of 
the training and tools necessary to carry out their mission.

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