Florida Senate - 2010                                     SM 480
       
       
       
       By Senator Baker
       
       
       
       
       20-00528-10                                            2010480__
    1                           Senate Memorial                         
    2         A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
    3         urging Congress to preserve the authority of the
    4         Governor to retain command and control of the Florida
    5         National Guard and to reject any changes to federal
    6         law which would restrict or diminish the authority of
    7         the Governor to activate the Florida National Guard in
    8         response to a domestic crisis, disaster, or other
    9         emergency.
   10  
   11         WHEREAS, Article I, Section 8, Clause 16 of the United
   12  States Constitution and Title 32 of the United States Code grant
   13  authority to the Governor to act as commander in chief of the
   14  Florida National Guard, and
   15         WHEREAS, the Insurrection Act contained in Title 10 of the
   16  United States Code currently provides authority to the President
   17  of the United States to activate the Florida National Guard in
   18  certain circumstances, and
   19         WHEREAS, revisions to the Insurrection Act enacted in 2007,
   20  which provided the President wider authority to activate
   21  National Guard units, were repealed in 2008, and
   22         WHEREAS, as the military arm of the Governor and the people
   23  of the State of Florida, the Florida National Guard stands ready
   24  to immediately respond to a call from the Governor whenever
   25  there is a crisis or an emergency at home or abroad, and
   26         WHEREAS, because the State of Florida is extremely
   27  vulnerable to hurricanes, the state is often faced with
   28  recurring and sometimes overlapping emergency situations that
   29  require immediate and significant response, and
   30         WHEREAS, the Florida National Guard is the only military
   31  force that the Governor can call upon to respond to disasters
   32  and other emergencies, and
   33         WHEREAS, coordination and command of the Florida National
   34  Guard is also equally critical to the Governor’s ability to
   35  successfully ensure homeland security and carry out domestic
   36  defense duties, NOW, THEREFORE,
   37  
   38  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   39  
   40         That the Congress of the United States is urged to preserve
   41  the authority of the Governor to retain command and control of
   42  the Florida National Guard and to reject any changes to federal
   43  law which would restrict or diminish the authority of the
   44  Governor to activate the Florida National Guard in response to a
   45  domestic crisis, disaster, or other emergency.
   46         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
   47  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
   48  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
   49  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
   50  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.