Whereas, Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States vests in the United States Congress the exclusive power to declare war;
Whereas, In spite of the clear language of the U.S. Constitution, vesting the power to declare war exclusively in the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Executive Branch has unconstitutionally assumed that power while the Congress has abdicated its constitutional duty;
Whereas, The Father of the Constitution, James Madison, wrote, “The Constitution supposes, what the History of all Governments demonstrates, that the Executive is the branch of power most interested in war, and most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care vested the question of war to the Legislature.”;
Whereas, Although the U.S. Congress has not declared war since 1942, the nation has since gone to war repeatedly at the whim of the Executive Branch; and
Whereas, When such unconstitutional actions are taken by the federal government, it is the proper role of the states themselves to take action to remedy such situations, as outlined in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Libertarian National Committee:
- Calls upon the State Legislatures to enact legislation to prohibit the States’ National Guard and any member thereof to be released from the state into active duty combat unless the U.S. Congress has declared war pursuant to Article I, § 8, Clause 15 of the U.S. Constitution, and only for the express and explicit purposes enumerated in the Constitution: to “execute the Laws of the Union,” repel an invasion, or suppress an insurrection;
- Calls upon the Legislatures and Governors of the States not to comply with any order from the federal government to release the State’s National Guard into federal service unless the U.S. Congress has declared war pursuant to Article I, § 8, Clause 15 of the U.S. Constitution, and only for the express and explicit purposes enumerated in the Constitution: to “execute the Laws of the Union,” repel an invasion, or suppress an insurrection; and
- Further, calls upon the States to bring home said National Guard troops already so deployed to foreign conflicts immediately.
