(The Center Square) – A bill that would prohibit deployment of the Tennessee National Guard unless Congress declares war will be studied by lawmakers this summer.
Rep. Michele Reneau, R-Signal Mountain, introduced the bill to the House Public Service Committee on Wednesday. House Bill 129 is modeled after bills being introduced in other states by a Libertarian Party-led initiative called “Defend the Guard.”
“Congress needs to put their names on the line before we put boots on the ground,” said Brannon Askew, who said he was testifying on behalf of Defend the Guard.
Tennessee has faced several natural disasters where National Guard soldiers were needed but were deployed overseas, according to Reneau.
“I believe it’s because Washington continues to entangle our National Guard into undeclared wars that are endless,” Reneau said.
If the bill passes, it could jeopardize federal funding for the state unit, which received more than 95% of its budget from the federal government, said Maj. Gen. Warner Ross II, the adjutant general for the Tennessee National Guard.
“Passage of this bill would do unintended harm to our military readiness, our state’s role in national security and our ability to respond to those domestic emergencies that we know we just had as early as last evening and back in the fall,” Ross told the committee. “Federal decision-makers will reallocate critical funds and equipment to other states as the Tennessee National Guard cannot be counted on to contribute.”
The Tennessee Senate is considering an identical bill sponsored by Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald. The bill is assigned to the Senate State and Local Government Committee.
Other state legislatures have considered “Defend the Guard” bills for their National Guard units with little success. The Virginia House of Delegates passed House Bill 2193 in February but a Senate committee killed the bill.
