75th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2009 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
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 LC 2686
 
                       Senate Resolution 1
 
Sponsored by Senator WALKER; Senators MONNES ANDERSON, MONROE,
  MORRISETTE, ROSENBAUM, SCHRADER
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
 
  Urges Governor to withhold deployment of Oregon National Guard
to Iraq or Afghanistan.
 
                        SENATE RESOLUTION
  Whereas under section 8, Article I of the United States
Constitution, Congress may call forth the militia to 'execute the
Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions';
and
  Whereas federal law since 1933 has provided that persons
enlisting in a state National Guard unit simultaneously enlist in
the United States National Guard, a part of the United States
Army, and that enlistees retain their status as state National
Guard members unless and until ordered to active federal duty and
then revert to state National Guard status upon being relieved
from federal active duty; and
  Whereas in 1986, Congress passed and the President of the
United States signed the 'Montgomery Amendment,' which provides
that a Governor cannot withhold consent with regard to active
duty outside the United States because of any objection to the
location, purpose, type or schedule of such duty; and
  Whereas under the United States Constitution each state's
National Guard unit is controlled by the Governor in times of
peace, but can be called up for federal active duty by the
President, provided that the President is acting pursuant to the
Constitution and laws of the United States; and
  Whereas the War Powers Act of 1973 specifically limits the
power of the President to wage war without the approval of
Congress; and
  Whereas in October 2002, Congress approved the Authorization
for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 in
response to the President's request under the War Powers Act; and
  Whereas the 2002 resolution authorized the President to use the
Armed Forces of the United States as he determines necessary and
appropriate to defend the United States against a continuing
threat posed by Iraq and to enforce all relevant United Nations
Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq; and
  Whereas the earlier congressional Authorization for Use of
Military Force of September 18, 2001, which launched the 'War on
Terror,' has allowed the United States to occupy Iraq, conduct
 
military operations in Afghanistan and attack targets in Somalia,
Pakistan and elsewhere; and
  Whereas the 2001 congressional authorization resulted in the
opening of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, the use of undisclosed
military holding sites in other parts of the world, the enactment
of the USA PATRIOT Act and the use of military tribunals among
other affronts to human, civil and constitutional rights; and
  Whereas if the intent of the 2002 congressional resolution was
to enforce all current and future United Nations Security Council
resolutions regarding Iraq, then the 2002 congressional
resolution is too broad and could allow the National Guard to
remain federalized indefinitely; and
  Whereas the 2001 congressional resolution also is overly broad
and could be construed to allow the President to call up the
National Guard again to go to Iraq, Afghanistan or any other
country deemed part of the 'War on Terror'; and
  Whereas the 2001 and 2002 congressional resolutions contain
neither a termination date nor a process or procedure for
determining when the authorization should terminate; and
  Whereas the United States Armed Forces, including members of
the Oregon National Guard and National Guard members from other
states, have long since addressed the purposes set forth in the
2002 congressional resolution; and
  Whereas Iraq does not pose a continuing threat to the national
security of the United States and there is no extant United
Nations Security Council resolution to be implemented for a
continuing threat; and
  Whereas the President may not maintain the use of United States
Armed Forces, and in particular members of the Oregon National
Guard, in Iraq for purposes other than those set forth by
Congress in the 2001 and 2002 congressional resolutions; and
  Whereas without a specific date for withdrawal of United States
Armed Forces or a method or formula for determining a time for
withdrawal in the 2001 and 2002 congressional resolutions, and in
the absence of federal legislation curing these omissions, the
President is required to order the withdrawal of troops within a
reasonable time and in a reasonable manner, but the President has
taken no such action; and
  Whereas other than the 2001 and 2002 congressional resolutions,
there is no authority under the Constitution or the laws of the
United States for the continued presence of Oregon National Guard
members in Iraq and Afghanistan; and
  Whereas the deployment of Oregon National Guard members in Iraq
and Afghanistan beyond the scope set forth in either
congressional resolution has resulted, and continues to result,
in deaths, injuries and significant harm to Oregon National Guard
members and their families as well as loss of time together and
financial hardship; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Oregon:
  That we, the members of the Senate of the Seventy-fifth
Legislative Assembly, urge the Governor to withhold deployment of
the Oregon National Guard to Iraq or Afghanistan.
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