On the recordJuly 28, 2021
I offer this motion to recommit for one simple reason: so our defenders, the National Guard and the Capitol Police, can have the funding they need to continue protecting Americans day in and day out. This motion does what Congress has been unable to do for months, and that is support our guardsmen and our Capitol Police. Each and every one of these brave men and women have voluntarily raised their hands and sworn an oath to protect our institution and our country. And we can't do our most basic duty of providing funding for them to complete this sacred task. For both the Guard and the Capitol Police, this funding is essential to maintaining operations. We are talking about something as basic as keeping the lights on. These gaps were caused by the Capitol security mission. They came here to protect us, and it should be this Congress, through the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill, which foots the bill. Without this funding, the National Guard will be forced to cancel annual training and drill weekends through the end of the fiscal year. They will have to defer 75 armory and training site upgrades. The Air National Guard will see an 8-flying day standdown, and there is much, much more. This imperils unit readiness. That is obvious. It is also a pretty grave outcome. But individual soldiers and airmen, and their families, will see the dire impacts as well. These training cancelations will take an expected check out of their monthly budgets.…
