A March 9 hearing on the Safeguard the Guard bill, before the Wisconsin State Assembly's Committee on Veterans and Military Affiars attracted notice from TV and newspapers across the state of Wisconsin, and even a report from Vermont, the home state of State Rep. Michael Fisher, the author of the nation's first law challeging federal call-ups of a state guard. Photo: WKOW-TV News, Madison

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Safeguard Wisconsin's Guard

Jim Draeger, co-chair of the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice and Ben Manski, a Wisconsin attorney and executive director of the Liberty Tree Foundation, write in support of the Safeguard the Guard bill, warning, "It is sadly likely that future conflicts will arise between America and other foreign countries - just look at our current relationships with North Korea, Iran, Yemen and Venezuela. A sensible safety net in AB 203 could prevent the unauthorized use of the Guard in future conflicts and ensure that the primary mission of the Guard - to defend the homeland from invasion and natural disaster - is honored. That is the mission these women and men signed up for, after all."  Read more...

Vermont Times Argus: Rep. says: Bring Vt. Guard home 

Representative Michael Fisher, the author of  the first state legislation to challenge federal call-ups of the Guard, came to Wisconsin to speak in support of a Wisconsin bill that would do the same, and reports that, in Vermont, 77 of 150 legislators have signed on in support. Read more...

WKOW-TV Madison: Governor could review national guard call-ups

Spencer Black, author of the Safeguard the Guard bill, says, "I think we owe it to the men and women of our National Guard to make sure when they are asked to go in harm's way, that there is no question that the authority involved in that service is legal, appropriate and proper." Read more...  Video here...

Wisconsin Radio Network: Governor could challenge National Guard deployments

Assembly Representatives Marlin Schneider (D-Wisconsin Rapids), Jerry Petrowski (R-Marathon) and Dan Meyer (R-Eagle River) raised concerns about giving the Governor the authority to review Guard deployment orders. Read more...

Capitol Times: Safeguard the Guard

The editorial board of the Capital Times argues in favor of Safeguard the Guard from a historical perspective, noting that the founders who wrote the Constitutional provision establishing state militias "did not want these militias to become part of a standing national army, and certainly did not want them to be used to occupy foreign lands in undeclared wars." Read more...

WMTV Madison: Bill would allow Governor to sue over deployment of Wisconsin Guard

Rep. Spencer Black (D-Madison) says he can envision a scenario where congress authorizes the use of military force, but years later the reason has shifted. "If the mission had changed so dramatically, or the President had exceeded the authorization, then the governor would have reason to go to federal court and see if that would be what's right and proper." Read more...  Video here...

Vets for Peace turn out for "Safeguard the Guard"

WNPJ's report on the Safeguard the Guard hearing. Mt. Horeb resident Steve Books, a veteran of the Wisconsin Guard said, “Assembly Bill 203 would help insure that our national treasure, or what our own Governor Doyle called ‘The Greatest Citizen Militia in the World’ during his January 26 ‘State of the State Address,’ is used with clear thinking and by legal means, especially when called out of Wisconsin for service abroad.” Read more...

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These reports were compiled by Steve Burns at the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice.

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