Opinion by Representative Lee Deming, Montana House District 55
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In some newspapers in the State there recently appeared criticism of HB 527, the Defend the Guard bill. One was by Senator Wendy McKamey titled, “It’s Time We End the War on Law Enforcement and the National Guard”. There was also a critical article in the Western News by Roger Hagan titled, “Show Ponies Must Own Their Votes”. As principal sponsor of HB 527, I would like to spend a few lines helping you to understand the whole picture and my enthusiastic sponsorship of HB 527.
For your information, the bill’s intent is to forbid the Governor from releasing the Montana Guard into combat overseas absent a US Congressional declaration of war.
If you read the two pieces cited above, and I recommend that you do, you will notice the absolute and intentional lack of any Constitutional references to make their case. The reason is that there aren’t any. In fact, HB 527 is defended by the actual words found in the Constitution itself. You should check it out; Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 (The Congress shall have the power) To declare war. Article II, Section 2, Clause 1; The President shall be the commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the United States. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 15; (The Congress shall have the power) to provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.
Reread Article 1, Section 8, Clause 15. Congress, not the President, provides for calling forth the Militia to do three things only; execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions. Sending the National Guard into combat overseas in places like Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan or anywhere else without a Congressional declaration of war is flatly unconstitutional. The authors of the two articles above would ignore the clear Constitutional roadmap provided by the Framers. And for what purpose? Title 10 of the U.S. Code 12406 reinforces my contention.
Both authors, in criticizing those who voted for the Defend the Guard bill, cite as their main concern the loss of money for operation of the Montana Guard. From Senator McKamey’s article, “In 2023, the Montana Legislature debated two bills which had the title ‘Defend the Guard Act.’ In reality, these bills should have been called ‘Defund the Guard Acts.’ If either of these bills had passed, the State of Montana would lose $197 million dollars a year in federal funding for the Montana National Guard.”
From Roger Hagan’s article, “Representatives Matt Regier, Bergstrom, Gillette, Steve Galloway and Lola Sheldon-Galloway all voted to defund the Montana National Guard. Lest they try to tell you differently, I present this quote from the testimony of Major General Hronek, Adjutant General of the Montana National Guard, ‘If this bill passes it will have the practical impact of defunding the Montana National Guard.’”
We are led to believe by Senator McKamey, Roger Hagan, and Adjutant General Hronek that we should give up the lives of our citizen-soldiers in conflicts not authorized by the Constitution for $197 million dollars. They want us to trade the lives of our National Guard for money. It is as simple as that.
This is not an academic exercise. When preparing to introduce HB 527 I asked a legislative staffer to find out how many members of Montana’s National Guard had been injured in the Global War on Terror. He reported that 36 of our Montana citizen soldiers had been killed in that conflict.
The men and women of the Montana National Guard deserve a thorough debate by the U.S. Congress and an affirmative vote before being sent overseas. Do we want the Montana National Guard fighting in Yemen, the Ukraine, or Gaza? Make the case in the U.S. Congress. Our citizen-soldiers deserve that.
Do we want the Montana National Guard to help secure both borders, provide relief during natural disasters or deal with the threat of domestic insurrection? It will be hard to do if they are deployed to Syria.
HB 527 was and is rock solid constitutionally, legally, and morally. I hope you value the lives of Montana National Guard members as beyond price. I do.
