Watson Coleman: “Major Morris is a member of the Minnesota Army National Guard. There are currently 2,600 members of the Minnesota…”

“Major Morris is a member of the Minnesota Army National Guard. There are currently 2,600 members of the Minnesota National Guard serving in Iraq as members of the 134th Brigade Combat Team. They were deployed to Iraq last March after spending 6 months at Camp Shelby, MN. When I visited them in December in Fallujah, Taqqadum, and Tallil, Iraq they were all very excited to return home this month to see their families--some of them returning home for the first time since September of 2005. But they didn't get to come home this month. On January 10 of this year it was announced the 134th would be extended 125 days, hopefully returning home sometime later this summer. With this additional deployment time, the deployment of the 134th in Iraq will be 35 days longer than that of any other unit that has served in Iraq. That is a long time. It is interesting to talk to our National Guard folks. They are not complaining. They are doing their duty. But I know it weighs heavily on my fellow Minnesotans, on their families, and those of us who get to represent them in the Congress. When the extension was announced, I shared the great frustration over the fact that our young men and women would not be coming home as scheduled, and we had deep concerns about the way it was noticed. I think the families heard about it before the folks in Iraq heard about it, and heard about it watching a press conference. The Army apologized. Certainly we have to do better when issues such as this come up.”