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HR 8281
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Guard Equal Benefits for Federal Missions Act

To ensure National Guard members performing full-time National Guard duty in support of Federal law enforcement operations receive benefits equivalent to those provided for service during a national emergency.

Introduced Apr 14, 2026

Latest action (Apr 14, 2026) Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Referred to
Veterans' Affairs Committee Armed Services Committee
Policy area
Armed Forces and National Security
Issues
Defense

Summary
  • Allows National Guard members performing full-time duty in support of federal law enforcement operations to receive benefits typically reserved for service during a declared national emergency.
  • Covers National Guard duty supporting federal agencies including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
  • Qualifies such service for Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits, military retirement age reduction, transitional assistance, and other federal benefits for national emergency service.
  • Requires that the duty be authorized by the President or Secretary of Defense and address significant criminal activity, drug trafficking, organized crime, or other public safety threats.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)

Actions (2)
  1. Apr 14, 2026 Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. · house
  2. Apr 14, 2026 Introduced in House

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

  • S 4285 — Guard Equal Benefits for Federal Missions Act · Introduced Apr 14, 2026 · Cong. 119 93%
  • HR 5604 — National Guard Proper Use Act · Introduced Sep 26, 2025 · Cong. 119 70%
  • S 2145 — GUARD Veterans’ Health Care Act · Introduced Jun 23, 2025 · Cong. 119 69%
  • HR 8697 — Guard the Skies Act · Introduced May 7, 2026 · Cong. 119 69%
  • HR 8421 — SERVE Act · Introduced Apr 21, 2026 · Cong. 119 68%
  • S 649 — Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act of 2025 · Introduced Mar 18, 2026 · Cong. 119 68%

Text versions (1)
  • Introduced in House · Apr 14, 2026

Only one text version is on file, so there’s no earlier version to compare against yet.

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 14, 2026

Mr. Van Epps introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To ensure National Guard members performing full-time National Guard duty in support of Federal law enforcement operations receive benefits equivalent to those provided for service during a national emergency.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Guard Equal Benefits for Federal Missions Act”.

SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TITLE 32 SERVICE AS NATIONAL EMERGENCY SERVICE.

(a) In General.—Chapter 5 of title 32, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section: “Sec. 511. Treatment of certain full-time National Guard duty for benefit eligibility

“(a) In General.—For purposes of any provision of law that provides benefits based on service in response to a national emergency, full-time National Guard duty performed under section 502(f) shall be treated as service in response to a national emergency if such duty—

“(1) is authorized by the President or the Secretary of Defense; and

“(2) is performed in direct support of Federal law enforcement operations, including operations conducted in coordination with—

“(A) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement;

“(B) the Drug Enforcement Administration;

“(C) the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; or

“(D) any other Federal law enforcement agency designated by the Secretary of Defense; and

“(3) is carried out for the purpose of addressing—

“(A) significant criminal activity;

“(B) drug trafficking;

“(C) organized crime; or

“(D) other threats to public safety as determined by the Secretary of Defense.

“(b) Benefits Covered.—Service described in subsection (a) shall be deemed qualifying service for purposes of—

“(1) section 12731 of title 10 (retirement age reduction);

“(2) section 1145 of title 10 (Transitional Assistance Management Program);

“(3) chapter 33 of title 38 (Post-9/11 GI Bill); and

“(4) any other Federal benefit requiring service in response to a national emergency.

“(c) Rule of Construction.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the President to declare a national emergency.”.

(b) Clerical Amendment.—The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 5 of title 32, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 510 the following new item:

“511. Treatment of certain full-time National Guard duty for benefit eligibility.”. <all>

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