CS/HM 227

1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging
3	Congress to preserve the authority of the Governor to
4	retain command and control of the Florida National Guard
5	and to reject any changes to federal law which would
6	restrict or diminish the authority of the Governor to
7	activate the Florida National Guard in response to a
8	domestic crisis, disaster, or other emergency.
9
10	WHEREAS, Article I, Section 8, Clause 16 of the United
11	States Constitution and Title 32 of the United States Code grant
12	authority to the Governor to act as commander in chief of the
13	Florida National Guard, and
14	WHEREAS, the Insurrection Act contained in Title 10 of the
15	United States Code currently provides authority to the President
16	of the United States to activate the Florida National Guard in
17	certain circumstances, and
18	WHEREAS, revisions to the Insurrection Act enacted in 2007
19	which provided the President wider authority to activate
20	National Guard units were repealed in 2008, and
21	WHEREAS, as the military arm of the Governor and the people
22	of the State of Florida, the Florida National Guard stands ready
23	to immediately respond to a call from the Governor whenever
24	there is a crisis or an emergency at home or abroad, and
25	WHEREAS, because the State of Florida is extremely
26	vulnerable to hurricanes, the state is often faced with
27	recurring and sometimes overlapping emergency situations that
28	require immediate and significant response, and
29	WHEREAS, the Florida National Guard is the only military
30	force that the Governor can call upon to respond to disasters
31	and other emergencies, and
32	WHEREAS, coordination and command of the Florida National
33	Guard is also equally critical to the Governor's ability to
34	successfully ensure homeland security and carry out domestic
35	defense duties, NOW, THEREFORE,
36
37	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
38
39	That the Congress of the United States is urged to preserve
40	the authority of the Governor to retain command and control of
41	the Florida National Guard and to reject any changes to federal
42	law which would restrict or diminish the authority of the
43	Governor to activate the Florida National Guard in response to a
44	domestic crisis, disaster, or other emergency.
45	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
46	dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
47	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
48	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
49	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.