State campaigns are active in Alaska, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Vermont, Virginia, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington D.C., Wisconsin, and new states are joining all the time.
National sponsors include AfterDowningStreet.org, Cities for Peace, CODEPINK, Courage to Resist, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Liberty Tree, Military Families Speak Out, Peace Action, Progressive Democrats of America, United for Peace and Justice, Veterans for Peace, and U.S. Labor Against the War.
Summary: Press conference launching the national “Bring the Guard Home! It’s the Law.” campaign. Legislators in over a dozen states plan legislation
ending the unlawful overseas deployment of their National Guard units.
The legislation limits Guard units to service within their respective
states, unless called into federal service following a declaration of war
or a duly enacted federal statute.
Guard units currently in Iraq are there under the 2002 Authorization for
the Use of Military Force. The 2002 AUMF having expired, the legisla-
tion recognizes, there is no lawful basis under which state Guard units
may be released into national service for deployment to Iraq.
Campaign Seeks To Keep National Guard At Home
BY KRISTIAN FODEN-VENCIL
Portland, OR January 21, 2009 1:03 p.m.
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A campaign aimed at keeping the Oregon National Guard in Oregon started Wednesday with a 7000 signature petition being handed into the Governor’s office. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.
To learn more, see the videos of the national Press Release for the campaign: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v… and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
http://news.opb.org/article/40…
Oregon Public Broadcasting
The campaign is part of an effort in 18 states to bring National Guard troops back from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Supporters in Oregon have drafted a bill to enable Governor Ted Kulongoski to refuse a federal call up — unless there’s a constitutionally authorized federal directive.
Leah Bolger of ‘Veterans for Peace’ says the current directive is not valid because it’s expired and troops are no longer there for the stated goal of finding weapons of mass destruction.
Leah Bolger: “The keep the guard home campaign is trying to empower governors to stand up and say I am responsible for my state’s welfare and I need the guard to stay here and I will not release them to federal authority unless there is a valid authorization.”
Kulongoski’s office sent a representative to accept the petition, but did not take a stance on the issue.
In the past, however, he has bemoaned the low availability of troops for wildfires and other local problems.