Bustos-led letter calls on President Trump to fully restore federal funding as expiration looms
WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) released the following statement in response to reports that Vice President Pence promised a group of governors that he would press President Trump to extend federal funding for National Guard COVID-19 response efforts, which are set to expire at the end of the year and was requested by Congresswoman Bustos last week.
“Although this Administration is notorious for empty rhetoric and broken promises, I truly hope Vice President Pence kept his word to our nation’s governors; rarely has our nation seen so much at stake during a transfer of presidential power.
“In the face of a raging pandemic, cash-strapped states have been forced to scrape together resources due to the White House’s utter failure to provide support, while the futures of our women and men in the National Guard are left in limbo.
“As we prepare for what could be one of the deadliest winters in American history, President-elect Biden has already pledged to fully fund the efforts of our neighbors in uniform – the current Administration must step up to ensure that states aren’t left to grapple with a potential gap in funding. President Trump must immediately extend federal support for COVID-19 response efforts of our National Guard, so that ongoing efforts may continue uninterrupted.
“To protect the health of our people and our nation, states must not be left to shutter desperately needed COVID-19 response services, and our service men and women must continue their critical work in our nation’s fight against this pandemic. I am calling on President Trump to do the right thing: immediately and fully extend federal funding for National Guard COVID-19 response deployments beyond the end of this year.”
BACKGROUND
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, members of the National Guard have been deployed across the country to assist with public health responses. Last week, Congresswoman Bustos sent a letter to President Trump calling on him to fully restore federal funding for the National Guard’s COVID-19 response efforts, which are set to expire at the end of the year and as the nation prepares for what may be one of the deadliest winters in American history. Bustos also praised President-elect Joe Biden’s pledge to provide federal support for these efforts.
Earlier in the year, the Trump Administration covered 100 percent of the associated costs for deployment. In August, the Administration stripped states of millions of dollars of support when it announced it would no longer cover the full costs, forcing many states to states and territories to cover 25 percent of National Guard deployment, while making an unexplained exception exclusively for Florida, Texas, Arizona, Connecticut and California.
You can read full text of the letter here.
