DEFEND

THE GUARD RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States vests in the United States
Congress the exclusive power of war; and

WHEREAS, in spite of clear language, the Executive Branch has unconstitutionally assumed and
abused that power while Congress has abdicated its responsibility; and

WHEREAS, although there has not be a declared war in over 70 years, the United States has gone to
war repeatedly on the whim of bureaucrats and the Executive, while our men and women in
uniform have been sent off into harm’s way; and

WHEREAS, when such unconstitutional actions are taken by the federal government, it is the
proper role of the states themselves to take action to remedy erosions of constitutional law, as
outlined in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1789; and

WHEREAS, founding father and 1ST President of these United States, George Washington, wrote,
“The Constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore, no offensive expedition
of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and
authorized such a measure”; and

WHEREAS, father of the Constitution, James Madison, wrote, “The Constitution supposes, what the
History of all Governments demonstrates, that the Executive is the branch of power most interested
in war, and most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care vested the question of war to the
Legislature”; and

WHEREAS, Constitutional framer and expansive-government advocate of the time, Alexander

Hamilton, wrote, “The Congress shall have the power to declare war; the plain meaning of which is,
that it is the peculiar and exclusive duty of Congress, when the nation is at peace, to change that
state into a state of war”; and

WHEREAS, HB 2732 “Defend the Guard Act” was introduced by Air Force Veteran and Republican
State Delegate McGeehan (West Virginia), legislation that would prohibit unconstitutional foreign
deployments of a State’s National Guard troops pursuant to Article 1, Section 1, Clause 15 of the
Constitution, effectively restoring the Founder’s framework; and
WHEREAS, the Texas Republican Party included the following in its 2018 Permanent Platform &
Resolutions Committee Report: “The Texas National Guard and the Texas Air National Guard should
only be deployed to overseas combat zones under authorization of Congress through a declaration
of war”; and

WHEREAS, Guard troops have played significant roles in all modern overseas conflicts, with over
650,000 deployed since 2001 at an unnecessary cost of lives and resources both at home and
abroad; and

WHEREAS, Smedley Butler, United States Marine Corps Major General and the most decorated
Marine in US history at the time of his death, said: “War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly
the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one in which the profits
are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.”; and

WHEREAS, recent history affords us the opportunity to look back upon commonly agreed upon
mistakes in military adventurism such as Iraq, where even the Commander in Chief at the time,
George W Bush, expressed extreme regret.

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the 11TH District Georgia Republican Party acknowledges the
destructive nature of war, the value of peace, and the unequivocal requirement to uphold
constitutionalism in determining the necessity of potential military action; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the 11TH District Georgia Republican Party supports the idea of
interposition illustrated in the “Defend the Guard Act”, expects the legislature to introduce and pass
corresponding legislation, and urges that all who take or have taken an oath to uphold the
Constitution support said legislation to the best of their abilities; and

BE IT MOREOVER RESOLVED that the 11TH District Georgia Republican Party is authorized and
directed to disseminate this resolution in good faith and preserve a perpetual copy for the record,
available on its website. An electronic copy shall also be transmitted to each Representative and
Senator of the Georgia General Assembly and of Georgia’s delegation to Congress, the Attorney
General, the Secretary of State, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Governor.