Leahy, Bond Reintroduce National Guard
Empowerment Effort
Bill Would Sharpen Pentagon’s
Focus
On Helping The Guard Respond
To Domestic Emergencies
WASHINGTON (THURSDAY, June 25) – Sen. Patrick Leahy
(D-Vt.) and Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) Thursday reintroduced legislation that
would obligate the Department of Defense to pay greater attention to the
mission of domestic operations in support of civilian authorities and
to further empower the National Guard in defense policymaking.
Leahy and Bond are co-chairs of the 96-member Senate National Guard
Caucus.
In addition to serving as the primary reserve to the
active military when assigned abroad, the National Guard is the nation’s
first military responder for domestic emergencies, such as natural
disasters. No organization in the U.S. defense structure has more
experience, expertise, and capability than the Guard does when it comes
to domestic response and providing support to civilian authorities.
The Leahy-Bond bill – a follow-on to their successful earlier Guard
empowerment legislative efforts – would enhance the Guard’s ability to
deal with these situations and ensure that states remain in control of
the Guard and other military forces that might be operating domestically
during these situations, and thereby improving the nation’s domestic
defense capabilities.
This bill would increase the quality of advice at the
highest levels on homeland defense matters by posting the Chief of the
National Guard -- now a four-star general officer position -- on the
Joint Chiefs of Staff. The legislation would also ensure that
governors maintain so-called tactical control over federal military
forces during emergencies, and it would give the National Guard Bureau
budgetary authority to develop and procure essential equipment for the
Guard. The legislation also would create the new position of Vice
Chief of the National Guard Bureau who would serve as the principal
deputy to the Bureau Chief.
In his “Blueprint for Change,” the new
Administration’s national security blueprint, President Obama endorsed
the idea of making the Guard Bureau Chief a full member of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, a move that Vice President Biden also has endorsed. In
developing the legislation, Leahy and Bond consulted with The National
Guard Association of the United States, the Adjutants General
Association of the United States and the Enlisted National Guard
Association of the United States – organizations the Senators expect to
endorse the bill after its introduction.
Leahy said, “The National Guard continues to
skillfully perform its domestic security roles, which continue to grow
in importance. Time and again the Guard has shown that it has the
know-how, the experience and the skills to perform missions at home and
abroad. Empowering the Guard will help mission performance and the
entire military’s ability to support elected leaders and local officials
during emergencies.”
“Our citizen-soldiers stand ready to defend our
nation, secure our homeland from natural disasters or terrorist attacks,
and are now fighting overseas in the war on terror,” said Bond.
“We have a responsibility to give the Guard the equipment, resources,
and bureaucratic muscle they need to meet their critical dual mission.”
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