FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Harrisburg, PA, June 8, 2022 – The Libertarian Party has passed a resolution in support of Defend the Guard legislation across the country. This legislation would protect the National Guard from being deployed without a formal declaration of war from Congress. The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania enthusiastically supports this effort and calls on the Pennsylvania General Assembly to pass this legislation immediately.
“Our National Guard has been abused for two decades,” John Thomas said, Chair of Media Relations for the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania. “The military-industrial complex has used them well beyond their duty as a less-expensive alternative to active duty, forcing our Guardsmen who should be home with their families aiding their state into brutal and unnecessary war overseas. Congress has abdicated their duty of formally declaring war and has allowed this abuse of our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers to go on for far too long.”
Over 45% of the soldiers deployed in the Global War on Terror have been National Guardsmen. By passing Defend the Guard legislation, state governments can block the use of their National Guard units from being deployed into active combat overseas unless such action has been sanctioned by a formal declaration of war by the U.S. Congress.
“We call upon the Pennsylvania General Assembly to immediately pass Defend the Guard legislation and protect our Guardsmen. If Governor Wolf will not sign, the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania has a candidate for Governor in Matt Hackenburg, a former Guardsman, who will make protecting our guard a top priority and make sure this legislation gets signed.”
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See the resolution below. For additional information, please contact mediarelations@lppa.org. For more information on Matt Hackenburg’s campaign for governor, visit MattHackenburg.com.
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WHEREAS, Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the Constitution of the United States vests in the United States Congress the exclusive power of war;
WHEREAS, Article I, Section 8, Clause 15 of the Constitution of the United States delegates to the Congress the power to provide for “calling forth the militia” in three situations only: 1) to execute the laws of the union, 2) to suppress insurrections, and 3) to repel invasion;
WHEREAS, the U.S. Executive Branch has unconstitutionally assumed that power while the Congress has abdicated its constitutional duty;
WHEREAS, the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, once wrote: “Considering that Congress alone is constitutionally invested with the power of changing our condition from peace to war, I have thought it my duty to await their authority for using force in any degree which could be avoided”
WHEREAS, although the U.S. Congress has not declared war since 1942, the nation has since gone to war repeatedly at the whim of the Executive Branch; and
WHEREAS, Congressman, senator, and Secretary of State to three U.S. Presidents, Daniel Webster, once wrote: “It will be the solemn duty of the State Governments to protect their own authority over their own Militia, & to interpose between their citizens & arbitrary power. These are among the objects for which the State Governments exist; & their highest obligations bind them to the preservation of their own rights & the liberties of their people”
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania:
- calls upon the Pennsylvania Legislature to enact legislation to prohibit the Pennsylvania National Guard and any member thereof to be released from the state into active duty combat unless the U.S. Congress has declared war pursuant to Article I, § 8, Clause 15 of the U.S. Constitution, and only for the express and explicit purposes enumerated in the Constitution: to “execute the Laws of the Union,” repel an invasion, or suppress an insurrection, and
- calls upon the Governor of Pennsylvania not to comply with any order from the federal government to release the Pennsylvania National Guard into federal service unless the U.S. Congress has declared war pursuant to Article I, § 8, Clause 15 of the U.S. Constitution, and only for the express and explicit purposes enumerated in the Constitution: to “execute the Laws of the Union,” repel an invasion, or suppress an insurrection.
