1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to military affairs; restricting when the governor may release the National 
1.3 	Guard to federal active duty;proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
1.4 	chapter 190.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. NATIONAL GUARD FEDERALIZATION; FINDINGS.
 1.7 	The legislature finds that:
1.8 	(1) Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States vests in the United States 
1.9 	Congress the exclusive power of war;
1.10 	(2) in spite of the clear language of the United States Constitution, vesting the power 
1.11 	over war exclusively in the United States Congress, the United States Executive Branch 
1.12 	has unconstitutionally assumed that power while the United States Congress has abdicated 
1.13 	its constitutional duty;
1.14 	(3) although the United States Congress has not declared war in over 70 years, the nation 
1.15 	has since gone to war repeatedly at the whim of the executive branch;
1.16 	(4) when such unconstitutional actions are taken by the federal government, it is the 
1.17 	proper role of the states themselves to take action to remedy such situations, as outlined in 
1.18 	the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798;
1.19 	(5) a founder of this country, George Washington, once wrote: "The Constitution vests 
1.20 	the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore, no offensive expedition of importance 
1.21 	can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and authorized 
1.22 	such a measure";
2.1 	(6) the Father of the Constitution, James Madison, once wrote: "The Constitution 
2.2 	supposes, what the History of all Governments demonstrates, that the Executive is the branch 
2.3 	of power most interested in war, and most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care 
2.4 	vested the question of war to the Legislature";
2.5 	(7) the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, once wrote: "We 
2.6 	have already given in example one effectual check to the dog of war by transferring the 
2.7 	power of letting him loose from the Executive to the Legislative body. . ." and "Considering 
2.8 	that Congress alone is constitutionally invested with the power of changing our condition 
2.9 	from peace to war, I have thought it my duty to await their authority for using force in any 
2.10 	degree which could be avoided"; and
2.11 	(8) another Constitutional framer, Alexander Hamilton, once wrote: "The Congress shall 
2.12 	have the power to declare war; the plain meaning of which is, that it is the peculiar and 
2.13 	exclusive duty of Congress, when the nation is at peace, to change that state into a state of 
2.14 	war. . ."

2.15 	Sec. 2. [190.035] NATIONAL GUARD FEDERALIZATION.
2.16 		Subdivision 1.Short title. This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Defend 
2.17 	the Guard Act."
2.18 		Subd. 2.Definitions. For the purposes of this section:
2.19 	(1) "active duty combat" means performing the following services in the active federal 
2.20 	military service of the United States:
2.21 	(i) participation in an armed conflict;
2.22 	(ii) performance of a hazardous service in a foreign state; or
2.23 	(iii) performance of a duty through an instrumentality of war; and
2.24 	(2) "official declaration of war" means an official declaration of war made by the United 
2.25 	States Congress pursuant to Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States Constitution.
2.26 		Subd. 3.Federalization; official declaration of war required. Notwithstanding any 
2.27 	other provision of law, the Minnesota National Guard and any member of the Minnesota 
2.28 	National Guard shall not be released from the state into active duty combat unless the United 
2.29 	States Congress has passed an official declaration of war or has taken an official action 
2.30 	pursuant to Article I, Section 8, Clause 15 of the United States Constitution to explicitly 
2.31 	call forth the Minnesota National Guard and any member of the Minnesota National Guard 
2.32 	for the enumerated purposes to expressly execute the laws of the union, repel an invasion, 
3.1 	or suppress an insurrection. The governor shall take all actions necessary to comply with 
3.2 	the requirements of this section.