Committee hears hours-long debate on ‘Defend the Guard’ bill to restrict overseas combat deployments

Senate Bill 38, the “Defend the Guard Act,” would bar the governor or other state actors from releasing Kansas National Guard members for active federal combat service unless the U.S. Congress has declared war or taken other official action under its constitutional powers, committee adviser Jason Long said at the opening of the hearing.

The measure, Long told the Kansas Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs, would “prohibit the release of the Kansas National Guard or any member of the guard for active duty combat unless the United States Congress has declared war or taken official action under its constitutional powers to call on the guard,” and would not limit Guard assistance for domestic disaster response or other non-combat missions.

Supporters who testified said the bill would close a perceived loophole in federal mobilization law and protect Guardsmen from being sent to foreign combat without explicit congressional authorization. Dan McKnight of Bring Our Troops Home said the proposal would “restore the constitutional law and close[] loopholes that have led to the misuse of the National…