WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives adopted an amendment offered by Congressman Andy Barr and Congressman Brett Guthrie to increase funding for U.S. Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard training by $6 million in the Defense Appropriations bill.
“As the Representative for Kentucky’s National Guard Headquarters, I thank my colleagues for adopting this important funding increase that will directly benefit Kentucky Guardsmen and Reservists and I especially thank my colleague, Congressman Guthrie, for cosponsoring this amendment,’ said Congressman Barr. “It is essential we support training and coordination between all components of our Armed Forces, and I was proud to advocate for this important increased funding which will allow active duty Army personnel to more frequently advise, assist and train with Guard and Reserve units on drill weekends to ensure both are meeting the same levels of readiness.”
The amendment, part of H.R. 2740, will take $6 million from Defense-wide Operations and Maintenance funding, increasing Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard Operations and Maintenance by $2 million each for training support—such as the training of National Guard and Reserve components by the Army—to improve readiness. The bill would still require final approval by the Senate before the appropriations change would go into effect.
“While I am glad my amendment was adopted, other policies in the bill—such as language prohibiting in border wall funding, reversal of pro-life policies, and repeal of the current Authorization of Use of Military Force (AUMF) that we use to fight terrorism—prevented me from being able to support the underlying bill, which passed the House with zero Republican votes,” said Congressman Barr. “I look forward to advocating for Kentucky priorities in Conference with the Senate to produce a bipartisan package that properly supports our military.”