Bush restores governors’ power over GuardBy Erin Kelly - Gannett News Service
Posted : Wednesday Jan 30, 2008 17:44:29 EST
WASHINGTON — President Bush signed legislation pushed by Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont this week repealing a controversial law that had made it easier for the White House to take over control of the National Guard from governors.
The administration employed the guard for domestic law-enforcement duties, such as patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border.
The nation’s 50 governors had complained that the Insurrection Act, passed as part of a 2006 defense bill, hurt the states’ ability to use the guard to respond to natural disasters.
Leahy, a Democrat who co-chairs the Senate’s 95-member National Guard Caucus, put the repeal into a big defense authorization bill that Bush signed Monday.
Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican, applauded the repeal, a top legislative priority of the National Governors Association.
Rest of article at:
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/gns_guardcontrol_080130/