{"id":118050,"date":"2024-01-10T08:55:11","date_gmt":"2024-01-10T14:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jbs.org\/?post_type=alert&p=118050"},"modified":"2024-01-10T08:58:26","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T14:58:26","slug":"nullify-unconstitutional-wars-with-kentucky-bill-hb-149","status":"publish","type":"alert","link":"https:\/\/jbs.org\/alert\/nullify-unconstitutional-wars-with-kentucky-bill-hb-149\/","title":{"rendered":"Nullify Unconstitutional Wars with Kentucky Bill HB 149"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Members of the Kentucky General Assembly are seeking to enact legislation nullifying unconstitutional federal deployments of the Kentucky National Guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House Bill 149 (HB 149<\/a>), titled the \u201cDefend the Guard Act,\u201d is sponsored by Representative Candy Massaroni (R-Bardstown). It would prevent<\/a> combat deployments of the Kentucky National Guard by the federal government in the absence of a congressional declaration of war or another constitutional reason in accordance with Article I, Section 8, Clauses 11 and 15<\/a>, of the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Tenth Amendment Center<\/a>, over 650,000 National Guard troops have been sent to foreign conflicts since 2001, and 45% of the total U.S. forces sent to Iraq and Afghanistan have been National Guard or Reserve troops. If Kentucky and other states prohibit unconstitutional National Guard deployments, the federal government\u2019s participation in these foreign conflicts would be severely hampered, therefore limiting the federal government\u2019s ability to further entangle the U.S. in any undeclared wars overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a limitation on the federal government\u2019s ability to carry out an internationalist and interventionist foreign policy would be consistent with the wisdom of the Founding Fathers. In his 1796 Farewell Address<\/a>, President George Washington affirmed, \u201cIt is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.\u201d President Thomas Jefferson reiterated the same policy in his first inaugural address<\/a>, advocating for \u201cpeace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Importance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

HB 149 is an excellent application of Article VI<\/a> of the U.S. Constitution, which states<\/a> \u201c[t]his Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof \u2026 shall be the supreme Law of the Land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the federal government\u2019s engagement in endless, undeclared wars \u2014 subversion going back <\/strong>decades<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 violates the U.S. Constitution, it cannot be considered \u201cin Pursuance thereof\u201d and, thus, is not \u201cthe supreme Law of the Land.\u201d<\/strong> Unfortunately, over the last several decades, thousands of unconstitutional laws on the federal, state, and even local levels have been created and enforced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of this, state legislatures have a duty to rein in unconstitutional wars<\/a> and robustly enforce the Constitution and only those laws and actions \u201cin Pursuance thereof.\u201d HB 149 is an excellent model for other states to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Urge your state representative and senator to support the \u201cDefend the Guard Act\u201d (HB 149) and to push back against all other unconstitutional laws at every level of government.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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