04/17/2007 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS

            HJR 11-STATE'S CONTROL OF NATIONAL GUARD                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the consideration of HJR 11. [Before the                                                                
committee was CSHJR 11(STA)(title am).]                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
JOSH  APPLEBEE,  Staff to  Representative  Roses,  said the  2007                                                               
Defense  Authorization bill  gave the  president more  power over                                                               
states' national  guards. It  added natural  disasters, epidemics                                                               
or   other  heath   emergencies,  and   terrorist  incidents   as                                                               
conditions under which the president  can deploy armed forces and                                                               
federalize guard troop if he  or she determines that "authorities                                                               
of the  state or possession  are incapable of  maintaining public                                                               
order."  He said  all fifty  governors  object to  it because  it                                                               
could create  confusion and interfere  with a state's  ability to                                                               
respond to natural disasters within  its own borders. He said HJR
 simply urges the necessary  federal action to reverse this and                                                               
honor the sovereignty of individual states.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
9:33:07 AM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  GREEN asked  if there  might ever  be a  reason for  the                                                               
president to have this primacy.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MR. APPLEBEE  said yes, there  would be  times for that,  but the                                                               
new law  takes away informing  and consulting with  the governor.                                                               
The  resolution requests  reverting back  to where  the president                                                               
will consult with the governor before hand.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  STEVENS  asked  about  changes  in  the  last  30  years                                                               
regarding the use of the National  Guard. When he was in the army                                                               
the army defended the nation.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MR. APPLEBEE said  he can't speak to the  guard's entire history,                                                               
but it  is clear that it  has garnered a larger  role in homeland                                                               
security and  by being deployed  outside the state.  The National                                                               
Guard has taken on a larger  role, and in Alaska it is integrally                                                               
involved with  the federal forces,  and one concern is  that this                                                               
new authority by  the president may upset that  balance. He spoke                                                               
of the  Alaska National  Guard rescuing a  submarine, and  it was                                                               
seamless. Alaska has the model  of federal and state cooperation,                                                               
and that balance and efficiency should be kept, he stated.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
9:36:20 AM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR STEVENS said  he thinks he agrees but  is concerned about                                                               
a national  emergency with  an imminent threat.  He asked  if the                                                               
resolution will cause another problem in defending the country.                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MR. APPLEBEE  said he doesn't  think so.  No one knows  the state                                                               
better  than  the  governor or  legislature,  and  the  president                                                               
shouldn't assume  that he  or she would  know about  the Aleutian                                                               
Islands or the Brooks Range. "That's the way it used to be."                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR STEVENS  said he is  concerned that an  anti-war governor                                                               
would refuse to use the troops.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MR. APPLEBEE  said the contrasting  opinions of the  governor and                                                               
president during Hurricane Katrina  prompted the language. Alaska                                                               
would do  what was best  for our  state, and the  governor should                                                               
maintain the right to say, "I think you may be going too far."                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR STEVENS said he thinks he  agrees, but he noted the Civil                                                               
War  when President  Lincoln had  difficulty getting  troops from                                                               
some states.  The same  thing happened  to General  Washington in                                                               
the Revolutionary  War. He suggested  that being  "so politically                                                               
correct" Alaska  may be shooting  itself in  the foot when  a war                                                               
really needs to be fought  and an obstreperous governor could put                                                               
the nation in greater danger.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MR. APPLEBEE said  in times of war the president  has that power,                                                               
but expanding the power to all emergencies is the issue.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
9:39:49 AM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR  MCGUIRE said  she agrees  with Senator  Stevens' comments,                                                               
but the original insurrection act  allows the president to act in                                                               
times of war. "What we don't want  to do is extend out to natural                                                               
disasters, epidemics  or serious public health  emergencies." She                                                               
said  the  legislature  sent  resolutions   on  the  Patriot  Act                                                               
opposing  unanticipated  consequences.  It's  a  new  world  with                                                               
serious concerns,  "but we have  to be  careful about how  far we                                                               
go,  whether  it's  our  individual sovereignty  as  a  state  or                                                               
whether or not it's our individual liberties."                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR FRENCH  said 51  governors sent a  letter to  Congress in                                                               
opposition to the new federal language.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  GREEN moved  to  report CSHJR  11  (STA)(Title am)  from                                                               
committee with  individual recommendations  and no  fiscal notes.                                                               
There being no objection, the motion carried.