Leavenworth ? Kansas National Guard leaders say they need more money for training, U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kansas, said Wednesday.

“I’ll be carrying that message,” Boyda said of her return to Congress after this week.

Boyda met with Guard commander Adjutant Gen. Tod Bunting and Maj. Gen. M. Wayne Pierson, commander of the Leavenworth-based 35th Infantry Division.

Boyda said Bunting and Pierson didn’t say how much money they needed, but she supports their request.

In an interview with the Journal-World, Bunting noted that Guard soldiers mobilized for duty overseas are shipped to bases in other states where they undergo four or five months of training before leaving the country and serving elsewhere for another 12 months. He said he wants more training at the local level to cut down on the time that soldiers have to spend away from home.

“Our families like it and employers like it, but it comes with a bill,” Bunting said. “You’ve got to give us more training days and equipment. You’ve got to give us the resources.”

Boyda also toured Fort Leavenworth, where she met with acting base commander Brig. Gen. Mark O’Neill and others about a variety of ongoing projects at the base.

Boyda was criticized earlier this month because she voted for a military spending bill that did not include money for construction projects at Fort Riley and a new prison at Fort Leavenworth. But Boyda said those projects will be taken care of in a supplemental spending bill. As she has done several times in recent days, she criticized the previous 109th Congress for failing to pass a budget that could have included those projects.

“My bottom line is that my highest priority is getting these important military construction projects started again,” Boyda said.