AUSTIN - Top Appropriations Committee Republican Kay Granger (R-TX) released the following statement after the Texas National Guard and the Egyptian Armed Forces formalized a new partnership at Camp Mabry in Austin, officially making Egypt the newest partner in the Defense Department’s State Partnership Program (SPP).
"Our Texas National Guard—the largest state military force in the country—defends both our country and our community, including through international troop deployments even as the Guard responds to unprecedented missions here at home.
“Today’s increasingly complex and challenging world requires countries to collaborate and build upon shared values, virtues, and security concerns. The National Guard’s State Partnership Program helps our country maintain strong military alliances all over the world. Through its pre-existing partnerships with the Czech Republic and Chile, Texas has proven itself a worthy steward of the State Partnership Program, and I am so pleased to see the Texas-Egypt relationship become the latest chapter in this important National Guard initiative.
“Today marks a positive step forward in the relationship between America and Egypt, a key ally in a critical corner of the world. As I expressed in the letter I led on behalf of the Texas Congressional Delegation urging our state’s selection for this new partnership, the Texas Guard’s experience, including past deployments to Egypt, makes Texas the perfect choice to strengthen this important relationship.
"This year also marks 27 years of ties between the Texas Guard and its oldest partner, the Czech Republic. I am confident that in another 27 years we will still be celebrating today’s partnership with Egypt."
BACKGROUND
The Department of Defense’s State Partnership Program, established in 1993, links a state’s National Guard with the armed forces of a partner country in a cooperative relationship guided by U.S. foreign policy goals and includes military-to-military engagements and security cooperation. In addition to the new partnership with Egypt, the Texas Guard enjoys two other successful partnerships, with the Czech Republic (since 1993) and the Republic of Chile (since 2008).