Michigan National Guards in charge continuing to protect the U.S. Capitol has said it is provided with food “undercooked, raw, flowery and even full of metal shavings,” according to a letter from the State House delegation obtained Tuesday by CBS News . Some guards have been hospitalized after eating the food, the letter said.
“It is clear that these contracted foods are ill-prepared, often inedible and highly inadequate to support our soldiers,” the 14 lawmakers said in the letter, which was sent to the head of the Pentagon’s National Guard Office. “It is completely unacceptable for our men and women serving in Washington, DC, to be hospitalized because of the food they are provided with.”
The letter calls for the National Guard to end his contract with his current food supplier and find a new supplier or give the guards compensation for the rest of his time at the Capitol.
In his own letter, Michigan Sen. Gary Peters said the guards “fed on chicken with their feathers still stuck and raw ground beef.” As a result, he said, the 983 members of the state National Guard who still protected the Capitol were often forced to buy food with their own money.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said he was unaware of the reports when asked Tuesday, but said the Pentagon aims to ensure all guards receive “the support they deserve.” The National Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a Facebook Live broadcast Tuesday night, Rep. Bill Huizenga, one of the signatories to the House letter, said he has been fighting for weeks to get guardians to have adequate food after friends and family called his office. He said there were problems with “freshness” as well as “cases of mold and other bugs in food.” He also said the guards were receiving raw and undercooked food.
Huizenga, a Republican, said he thought the problem had been resolved. But in recent days, he said, he has received reports of metal shavings on food (potentially steel wool pads), as well as more cases of raw, undercooked and “inedible” food.
“That’s not acceptable. It’s not completely acceptable,” he said.
About one-fifth of National Guard troops still working within the perimeter of the Capitol come from Michigan, CBS affiliate WUSA9 reported. All National Guard troops will leave the Capitol grounds on March 12, the media reported.
This is not the first time lawmakers have argued with the treatment of guards at the Capitol. In late January, lawmakers expressed outrage then the guards were asked to leave the Capitol building and instead rest in a garage during their shifts. The guards were allowed to re-enter quickly.
Eleanor Watson contributed to the reports.