'Defend the Guard Act' Passes Arizona Senate Committee

A victory for soldiers and the U.S. Constitution

(Boise, Idaho) - On Wednesday the Arizona Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety, and Border Security Committee reported S.B. 1367, the Defend the Guard Act, with a "do pass" recommendation. This bill would prohibit the deployment of the Arizona National Guard into overseas combat missions without a declaration of war by Congress as required by Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution.

The final vote was four to three, with Chairman David Gowan (R-District 14), Vice Chairman David C. Farnsworth (R-District 10), Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-District 7), and Sen. Sonny Borrelli (R-District 30) voting in favor and Sen. Eva Burch (D-District 9), Sen. Eva Diaz (D-District 22), and Sen. Brian Fernandez (D-District 23) voting against.

Sen. Rogers, a retired lieutenant colonel with twenty years of service in the U.S. Air Force, is the lead sponsor of S.B. 1367. Her co-sponsors include Sen. Anthony Kern (R-District 27), Sen. Sine Kerr (R-District 25), and Sen. Janae Shamp (R-District 29).

A House companion of the bill, H.B. 2320, is co-sponsored by Rep. Alexander Kolodin (R-District 3), Rep. Neal Carter (R-District 15), Rep. Joseph Chaplik (R-District 3), Rep. Justin Heap (R-District 10), Rep. Rachel Jones (R-District 17), Rep. David Marshall Sr. (R-District 7), Rep. Cory McGarr (R-District 17), Rep. Steve Montenegro (R-District 29), Rep. Barbara Parker (R-District 10), Rep. Justin Wilmeth (R-District 2), and Sen. Justine Wadsack (R-District 17).

On Tuesday, U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar (R-District 9) published an op-ed at the Libertarian Institute encouraging members of the Arizona legislature to vote in favor of S.B. 1367 and H.B. 2320. "These bills would ensure that the Arizona National Guard could not be deployed into an unconstitutional war like the one in Syria, or into Ukraine if Joe Biden continues our country’s descent into World War III," wrote Congressman Gosar.

Congressman Paul Gosar became the first sitting member of the U.S. House of Representatives to endorse the Defend the Guard movement in February 2022 with a statement in the Congressional Record.

"This is an exceptional victory for the dignity of the National Guard and the United States Constitution," said Dan McKnight, Chairman of Bring Our Troops Home. "We will continue rallying Arizonans to properly motivate their elected senators and representatives to do the right thing. Our efforts will educate senators to see the clear language and intent of S.B. 1367. Senators will not be able to feign ignorance or hide behind false narratives."

Sgt. Dan McKnight is a thirteen-year veteran of the U.S. military, with service in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, U.S. Army, and Idaho Army National Guard, including an eighteen month combat deployment in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2007. In 2019 he founded Bring Our Troops Home, a national, non-partisan veterans organization which advocates the return of congressional war powers and cessation of the United States' unconstitutional wars in the Middle East and Africa.

This week Sgt. Dan McKnight appeared as a guest on KNST AM 790 with Garret Lewis, KBLU AM 560 with Russ Clark, and One America News Network with Dan Ball to discuss the bill and the efforts of Bring Our Troops Home in Arizona and around the country.

S.B. 1367 will now move to the Senate Rules Committee for further consideration.

For more information about S.B. 1367 and the national Defend the Guard movement, please visit DefendTheGuard.US or contact Communications Director Hunter DeRensis at hderensis@outlook.com to schedule an interview with Sgt. Dan McKnight.

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