January 4th was a momentous day for anti-war advocates. We passed HB 229, Defend the Guard out of the House! The vote was 187 to 182, incredibly close. We got bipartisan support with 24 Democrats crossing over, proving the anti-war left still exists, and is willing to stand up against the military industrial complex. I thank each and every one you for helping us pass this important bill:

Sadly, 26 Republicans voted in favor of forever wars by opposing the bill, and I wish them luck in their primaries this fall:

The bill initially was assigned to Finance, due to the (bogus) fiscal note attached, and they waived off. It is now headed to the Senate! Please, reach out to your Senator to educate them on this bill.

I want to thank Derek Proulx, regional director for the Defend the Guard organization here in New Hampshire, who spoke in front of GOP and Democrat committees, many VFW and American Legion posts, and has been a rock star whipping support for this bill. I also want to thank the support of the co-sponsors, Matt Santonastaso, Michael Granger, Joshua Adjutant and prime sponsor John Potucek for all the hard work getting this here. I always want to recognize Dianne Pauer for identifying potential issues with the bill and clarifying the language in her floor amendment. And, very importantly, I want to thank Ellen Read and Jonah Wheeler that reached out amongst their caucus to get support from the anti-war Democrats on their side. It was truly moving to see their votes.

Now – onto the Senate!

Floor speech:

Thank you Mr. Speaker.

I rise in support of HB229, commonly referred to as the Defend the Guard Act. This bill, very simply, requires Congress to formally declare war pursuant to Art I Section 8 of the US Constitution before we will deploy our State National Guard to a foreign combat zone. It does not stop training deployments, natural disaster response, use to repel invasion or quell uprisings. It has been filed in 38 states, making progress through legislatures.

The fiscal note attached to this bill, a vague “puts funding at risk” is the same, tired, hollow threat the Feds use to bully states into compliance. It’s intentionally non-committal because it is nonsense. When filed in Kansas, Defend the Guard was reported accurately as having no fiscal impact. Congressmen Gossar and Massie have spoken in favor of this bill, stating Congress controls the purse strings, and no member would consider defunding a Guard unit. It simply would be political suicide to file an amendment to an appropriations bill defunding a single State Guard, being both a petty act of malice and also making the country weaker. It will not happen.

Now, for a bit of history. Congress has not formally declared war since 1942. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 introduced the Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF for short), which have been the mechanisms by which the Presidents have executed military operations ever since. This abdication of a constitutionally delegated power to the Executive Branch ultimately led us to the forever wars of the last 2 decades.

The 2001 AUMF was hastily passed in the wake of 9/11, and was so vastly worded, with vague limits on targets, theater of operation, and no victory conditions that it has been the justification for military action in 22 countries. Over the course of this war on terror, National Guard units made up 45 percent of the boots on the ground in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, accounting for 18 percent of the casualties.

Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in 2005 was exacerbated by Guard soldiers and equipment that were deployed to Iraq and Kuwait instead of at home protecting their communities. Years later, one of the same missing Louisiana National Guard units, the 256th Infantry Brigade, came under rocket attacks during their deployment to Syria in 2021 where the US is occupying that country’s oil fields.

The Pentagon will continue to exploit State Guard units, to bolster their shrinking ranks in these forever wars, until the States say “enough is enough.” Asking people to “vote harder” in federal elections or to beg out Representatives to repeal the AUMFs has been a failing proposition to stop the uniparty war machine for decadesThe most recent vote in the US Senate to repeal the 2001 AUMF garnered only 10 votes. This is in our hands, right now, to protect the lives of the servicemen and women in our state and to ensure our Guard remains always ready, always there. I ask that you stand with them, Defend the Guard, and press the green button for OTP on HB229.

And, Mr. Speaker, I ask for a roll call vote.