Statement by Governor Bill Richardson Responding to GAO Report Citing Lack of Equipment for National Guard Troops

SANTA FE -- New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who is the Commander-in-Chief of his state's National Guard, today issued the following statement regarding the GAO Report on the Army and Marine Corp's equipment replacement strategy:

“Almost exactly one year ago, I addressed the National Guard Association and issued the same warning as yesterday's GAO report on Defense Logistics. We should not have a national policy of "stealing from Peter to pay Paul" to equip our troops -- requiring non-deployed units in the US to transfer equipment to deployed units overseas and demanding deployed units to leave their equipment behind in the military theater.

As the commander in chief of the New Mexico National Guard, I know they have a vital homeland security mission here at home. It's unconscionable to call on the Guard to conduct rescue missions with out-dated helicopters, to ask them to rebuild disaster-hit cities without engineering equipment, or to send them into combat without armored transportation and adequate weaponry.

The Army's current plan to provide only 40% of the equipment our National Guard needs by 2008 is totally unacceptable. When we send our National Guard into combat or to defend our homeland, it is our country's obligation to provide them with the right equipment to do the job.

States like New Mexico have met our responsibilities and made our guard troops available, now the federal government needs to step up and get them the funding and equipment they need to do their job effectively."

Since 9/11, over 2000 New Mexico Army Guardsmen and 500 Air Guardsmen have been deployed in support of Operations Nobel Eagle, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.