Easley: Give back state authority of National Guard
From Staff Reports
May 11, 2007

Gov. Mike Easley today called on the nation's governors to help undue expanded presidential control of the National Guard in extreme emergencies.
The move is necessary for governors to effectively respond to natural and man-made disasters, he stated in the letter.

The House Armed Services Committee this week approved the Fiscal 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes language that would repeal the law adopted last year that expanded the president's control of the Guard. The bill is expected to go before the full House next week.

In his letter, Easley urges governors to contact their federal House members to lobby support for the new defense bill.

The expanded presidential authority, he said, "seriously weakens our ability to respond to disasters in our state. It throws into question our power to command the National Guard."

Only 10 times since World War II has the National Guard been federalized. Most of those events were for civil rights disruptions in the 1950s and 1960s.

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