Maine lawmakers will soon decide the fate of a proposal that would require a formal declaration of war from the U.S. Congress before Maine’s national guard can deploy abroad.
The bill, introduced by Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin), is part of a broader movement aimed at getting state legislatures to reassert their constitutional authority over national guard units and reduce America’s involvement in “forever wars.”
A national group is working with lawmakers in every state to propose similar legislation.
If passed, the bill would lead to the recall of Maine guardsmen currently deployed abroad in undeclared wars.
“Over these last twenty years, the men and women of the fifty state national guards have accounted for nearly half of the active duty troops in Washington, D.C.’s undeclared forever wars in the Middle East,” said Brakey.
“The Constitution requires Congress to declare war before sending our guardsmen into foreign battlefields,” he said.
The Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee has yet to set a date for the bill’s work session, but Brakey said he expected it to be scheduled a few weeks from now.