National Defense Authorization Act 2012 to Place National Guard Bureau Chief on Joint Chiefs of Staff. In Crisis Situation The National Guard Will Be Knocking on You Door to Confiscate Your Weapons Under N.D.A.A. (H.R. 1540)

Friday, December 16, 2011

National Defense Authorization Act 2012 to Place National Guard Bureau Chief on Joint Chiefs of Staff. In Crisis Situation The National Guard Will Be Knocking on You Door to Confiscate Your Weapons Under N.D.A.A. (H.R. 1540)

HR 1540

112th CONGRESS

1st Session
H. EAS

In the Senate of the United States,

December 1, 2011.

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 1540

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

June 6, 2011

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services

AN ACT
T) entitled ‘An Act to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2012 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes.’, do pass with the following

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h1540/text

"""The Guard now will have a voice and a policy role suited to the vital role the Guard has assumed in our security structure," Leahy said. "The Guard has grown to become a front-line, 21st Century force, but it has been trapped in a 20th Century Pentagon bureaucracy. These reforms go a long way toward fixing that problem. I am pleased that we have come so far in recent years, but much more remains to be done. I thank my partner and my friend Lindsey Graham for all of his hard work on this effort, and we appreciate the many senators on both sides of the aisle who have helped make these advances possible."

Graham said, "We stand on the verge of historic change as the National Guard takes its rightful place as a full, permanent member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Since 9/11, the Guard and Reserve have been indispensable to fighting the War on Terror and protecting the homeland. They have been called up to duty, taken away from their work and families, and sent to far-away lands for long tours to protect our nation. Their voices need to be heard and they have earned a seat at the table where our most important military decisions are made. This long-overdue change in policy is a fitting tribute to our citizen-soldiers and the sacrifices they have made on our nation's behalf."

Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.), who helped include the provision in the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) along with Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), said placing the Guard chief at the level of the Joint Chiefs would ensure that the Guard is properly manned and equipped for its missions abroad and at home.

"Today, the National Guard serves this nation with distinction as it has throughout history," Miller said in a statement Wednesday. "I have long advocated empowering the Chief of the National Guard to be that voice by giving them a seat on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This would allow the Chief of the National Guard to directly advocate on their behalf regarding their challenges, training, manpower and equipment needs."

The Senate Armed Services Committee held the only hearing on the subject on Nov. 10, where the Joint Chiefs of Staff uniformly express their admiration for the chief of the National Guard Bureau but flatly dismissed the idea that he should join their ranks.

Among the reasons for rejecting the idea, the top officers of the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps, along with the Joint Chiefs chairman Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, argued that National Guard forces already were represented on the Joint Chiefs as part of the total force for both the Army and the Air Force. They contended that the National Guard Bureau chief had no real budget authority and placing him on the Joint Chiefs would create confusion as to the Army and Air Force chain of command.""