Bill Text: FL S0480 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Control of Florida National Guard by Governor [GPSC]

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-04-23 - Placed on Special Order Calendar; Read 2nd time -SJ 00781; Substituted CS/HM 227 -SJ 00781; Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/HM 227 (Adopted) -SJ 00781 [S0480 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-S0480-Introduced.html

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       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   21  National Guard units, were repealed in 2008, and 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.