Senate Adds National Guard Empowerment Features To Defense Bill;
Guard Also Wins As ‘Insurrection Act Rider’ Is Headed For Repeal  

Guard Caucus Leaders Leahy And Bond Hail Victories For Empowerment Act 

WASHINGTON (September 21) – Two top legislative priorities of the National Guard now are on track as the Senate Thursday night added key components of the National Guard Empowerment Bill to this year’s Defense Authorization Bill.  The provisions of the National Guard Empowerment Bill, combined with legislation already in the bill to repeal a year-old law that amends the Insurrection Act to make it easier for presidents to declare martial law and to take control of the Guard from governors, would strengthen the Guard’s mission in supporting civilians in domestic emergency response and to ensure that the 500,000-person force has a meaningful voice in key budget and policy decisions. 

Senate National Guard Caucus Co-Chairs Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Kit Bond (R-Mo.) are behind both efforts.  Earlier this year Leahy and Bond introduced their bipartisan National Guard Empowerment Act, featuring four core initiatives to give the National Guard more bureaucratic muscle in the Department of Defense.  The provisions incorporated into the Defense Authorization bill will give the National Guard budget power, make the Deputy of the United States Northern Command an officer of the National Guard, and elevate the Chief of the National Guard to the rank of four-star general.  Only one provision of the Guard Empowerment Act -- to make the Chief of the National Guard a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top military advisory panel to the President -- was cut from the bill, though the Chief will now have a direct channel to the senior leadership.  The Leahy-Bond Guard Empowerment provisions will face another hurdle when the Senate bill goes to conference with the counterpart House Defense Authorization Bill, passed in July.  

The Senate’s Defense Authorization Bill also includes a Leahy-Bond measure, drawn from a bill they have introduced together, to restore the Insurrection Act to its original form.  Last year’s Defense Authorization Bill contained language making it easier for the President to take control of the National Guard and use the entire military in domestic law enforcement.  The changes were made despite unified opposition from the nation’s governors, who have command and control of National Guard units in the states, as well as from the Senate National Guard Caucus, whose members total almost 90.  Earlier this year, key national military and law enforcement officials testified against the advisability of the changes in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.  The House’s counterpart bill includes a nearly identical repeal of last year’s changes, making its enactment virtually certain. 

Both Leahy-Bond measures have the support of the National Governors Association, the National Guard Association, the Adjutants General Association, and several other organizations. 

Leahy said, “The Guard is a 21^st Century defense force trapped in a 19^th Century bureaucracy.  That now will change with this historic breakthrough.  These reforms will strengthen the Guard’s organizational infrastructure by clarifying and underscoring its lines of authority.  It will support and empower the men and women of the Guard by preserving local control and by giving the Guard the voice it needs and deserves to carry out its missions at home and abroad.”  Leahy also is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee, which handles the Senate’s work in writing the annual Defense budget bill. 

“The National Guard is critical to our security at home and abroad. Despite the Guard's importance to the military team abroad and the homeland security team at home, they have been left out of the huddle on many key decisions. This victory is an important step in giving them the bureaucratic muscle they need," said Bond.  "While the bill will make significant improvements in the way the Pentagon operates we must continue to narrow the cultural divide that exists between our active and reserve forces and impacts the ability of the team to work cohesively at all levels.”

After Senate passage, which is expected next week, the final version of the bill will be negotiated by a House and Senate conference committee.

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