Reps. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) and Steve Womack (R-Ark.) are urging their colleagues to repay the National Guard for its deployment to Capitol Hill from January through May. Guard officials have said the patrol cost $521 million that it needs back to fund its scheduled training programs and other activities the rest of the fiscal year.

“When our democracy was under attack, the National Guard swiftly responded to protect the Capitol and preserve our form of self-government,” Bustos told Politico. “If we fail to repay them for their courageous efforts, we will be directly impacting our citizen warriors and hindering our ability to respond to future emergencies.”

Bustos and Womack, who are both appropriators, are preparing a letter to House and Senate leaders about the issue, Politico reported.

The House included the reimbursement in a package that also beefed up Capitol security spending, but the Senate has not acted.

Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Aaron Rodriguez