Sens. Tom Cotton and Doug Jones are making sure that home-schooled kids aren’t left behind when it comes to joining JROTC programs across the nation.
A measure spearheaded by the Arkansas Republican and Alaska Democrat, respectively, is on its way to President Trump with the the National Defense Authorization Act bill.
The lawmakers’ efforts aim to clear up any confusion on eligibility for a pool of roughly 2 million families home schooling in the U.S.
Mr. Cotton — a combat veteran — told colleagues on Wednesday that home-schoolers often come from homes that highly value “patriotism,” “hard work” and “faith,” Military Times reported Thursday.
“Home-school students therefore ought to be prime candidates for our Armed Forces for this very reason, but until now it hasn’t been clear in some places whether home-school students were eligible to join a local Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program,” the Republican said.
The Senate approved the measure Wednesday, and the president is expected to sign the National Defense Authorization Act soon.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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