4um: Hagel on Bush Immigration Plan: ‘That’s Not The Role of Our National Guard’

Title: Hagel on Bush Immigration Plan: ‘That’s Not The Role of Our National Guard’
Source: Think Progress
URL Source: http://www.thinkprogress.org/
Published: May 14, 2006
Author: Sen. Chuck Hagel
Post Date: 2006-05-14 11:54:20 by Zipporah
Keywords: None
Views: 214
Comments: 14

Appearing on ABC’s This Week, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) sharply criticized President Bush’s proposal, expected to be announced Monday, of sending thousands of National Guard troops to police the southern U.S. border. Hagel said flatly, “that’s not the role of our national guard.” He added that “we’ve got National Guard members in their second, third and fourth tours in Iraq” and “stretched our military as thin as we have ever seen in modern times.”

STEPHANOPOULOS: [Gov. Schwarzenegger is] against sending the National Guard. Where do you stand?
HAGEL: Well, I want to listen to the details and I want to listen to the President. But I would say this: I think we have to be very careful here. That’s not the role of our military. That’s not the role of our national guard. Let’s approach this in a long-term way where we fix the problem. That’s a short-term fix and I’m not sure it’s a very wise fix. Let’s start with the fact of whether we even have the capacity. What the Governor’s talking about. We’ve got 75% of all the equipment of National Guard all across this country is in Iraq. We’ve got National Guard members in their second, third and fourth tours in Iraq. We have stretched our military as thin as we have ever seen it in modern times. What in the world are we talking about here, sending a National Guard that we may not have any capacity to send down to protect our borders. That’s not their role. I’ll listen to the President but I have a lot of questions about this. I’m skeptical.

Just so I have this straight, the lack of democracy in some far off land that is no threat is a national emergency, while an invasion of home soil does not?

The Indiana Army and Air National Guard are reserve components of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. During times of national emergency, National Guard members may be called into active federal service by the President of the United States

The State Mission
During peace times, the National Guard is commanded by the governor, In it's "state" role, the National Guard assists local law enforcement agencies during emergencies at the direction of the governor. The distribution of soldiers, equipment and facilities across the state allows the National Guard to respond quickly and efficiently to emergencies statewide.

This dual federal-state mission is unique to the U.S. military and sets the National Guard apart from any other reserve component.