Contact: Rob Ostrander or Shana Stribling 202.224.5721
Wednesday, May 17, 2006

WASHINGTON – Today at a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill, U.S. Senator Kit Bond urged Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to support legislation that would give the National Guard more bureaucratic muscle within the Pentagon and a seat at the decision-making table.

“The Guard is continually pushed around in policy and budget debates within the Pentagon," said Bond. “That needs to change, Mr. Secretary. When the Guard is given a mission, the Guard is there to do the job, whether it’s Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina or border security. But when critical decisions are made that impact them, Guard leaders are shut out.”

Bond questioned Rumsfeld, testifying before the Appropriations Committee, on the lack of input by the Guard on the Quadrennial Defense Review, noting that Rumsfeld has called the QDR a “roadmap for change, leading to victory.”

“Can you explain for this committee how the Pentagon can develop a “roadmap for change, leading to victory” with a key strategic partner in the Total Force, the National Guard, not even at the discussion table, let alone at the decision table?” asked Bond.

Earlier this year, Senator Bond and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced the National Defense Enhancement and National Guard Empowerment Act (S. 2658) to:

* Give the Guard more muscle within the Pentagon by elevating the Chief of the National Guard to a four-star position and adding the Chief to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

* Give the National Guard Bureau the ability to research, validate and procure equipment essential to its mission.

* Allow the National Guard Bureau to establish more formal relationships with the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

* Direct that the Deputy Commander of U.S. Northern Command be a member of the National Guard to ensure that planning at NORCOM better encompasses the interests of the National Guard and the states.

Last week, Bond and Leahy joined 27 National Guard Adjutant Generals from across the nation at a press conference to rally behind the bill.

“Are we to believe that all these Adjutant’s General and someone as well respected as Governor Pataki from New York have all got it wrong?” Bond asked Rumsfeld. “Are we to believe the Pentagon, which is controlled by an active duty mindset, has the only solution, which is to sustain the status quo?”

Also, earlier this year, Bond and Leahy led the Senate opposition to Army proposals to cut the National Guard. The Pentagon backtracked on their plans to scale back the Guard’s force structure after Bond and Leahy organized broad opposition, more than 75 Senators, to the plan.