CONTACT: Mimi Robson
Libertarian Party of California Chairperson
chair@ca.lp.org; (916) 446-1776 x3

SACRAMENTO, California – The Libertarian Party of California calls on state lawmakers to pass legislation barring the deployment of the state’s National Guard in support of combat operations overseas absent a formal declaration of war from the United States Congress.

During the Global War on Terror the use of National Guard troops was abused in an effort to continue an aimless conflict without formally declaring war, or instituting a draft, in order to augment an overburdened active duty force. As the Biden Administration seems eager to provoke armed conflict with China and Russia, National Guard units from around the country are already being deployed overseas. Although guard forces can be deployed overseas by the President, this power should only be used during periods of extreme need.

At its most recent meeting, the Party’s Executive Committee unanimously passed the following Resolution:

WHEREAS, despite the clear language of the United States Constitution, vesting the power to declare war exclusively in the Legislature, the Executive Branch has unconstitutionally assumed war powers following the Congress’ gradual abdication of its constitutional duty;

WHEREAS, the 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.”;

WHEREAS, although the U.S. Congress has not declared war since 1942, our nation exists in a state of perpetual warfare at the behest of the Executive Branch ; 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 such situations, as outlined in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798; now,

THEREFORE, BE IT NOW RESOLVED that the Libertarian Party of California:

1. Calls upon the State Legislature to enact legislation to prohibit the States’ National Guard and any member thereof to be deployed overseas in service of combat operations unless the U.S. Congress has declared war pursuant to Article I, § 8, Clause 15 of the U.S. Constitution, and only for the express and explicit purposes enumerated in the Constitution: to “execute the Laws of the Union,” repel an invasion, or suppress an insurrection;

2. Calls upon the Legislature and Governor of California to defy any order from the federal government to release the State’s National Guard into federal service unless the U.S. Congress has declared war pursuant to Article I, § 8, Clause 15 of the U.S. Constitution, and only for the express and explicit purposes enumerated in the Constitution: to “execute the Laws of the Union,” repel an invasion, or suppress an insurrection; and

3. Further, calls upon the State to bring home said National Guard troops already so deployed to foreign conflicts immediately.

Michael Lema, an At Large member of the Party’s Executive Committee and a former enlisted Marine said, “I take DTG very personally because I have lost friends in this 20+ year war, a war where over 45% of soldiers deployed in the Middle East were guardsmen who should’ve never been deployed in the first place. I can’t get my friends back but I can fight tooth and nail to ensure no one has to experience what we went through ever again."

About the Libertarian Party: The Libertarian Party (LP) was founded in 1971 and is the third largest political party in the United States. The Libertarian, Democratic, and Republican parties were the only parties that appeared on every ballot in the US in 2020. The Libertarian Party of California (LPC) is an affiliate of the Libertarian National Libertarian Party which has affiliates in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. For more information about the LPC, go to www.ca.lp.org