Breaking – Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul visits Wyoming Capitol to back Rep. Lindholm’s ‘Defend the Guard Act’

“This bill has been introduced in seven states so far, supporting President Trump’s commitment to end these endless wars and keep our troops home, by requiring that a state’s National Guard can’t be sent to combat overseas unless Congress has fulfilled its Constitutional responsibility to declare war. Congress should do its job, before asking American troops to do ours. Before ordering National Guard troops to put their boots on the ground, politicians should at least have the courage to put their names on the line.”

Sgt. Dan McKnight, Chairman
BringOurTroopsHome.US

The legislation is part of a larger conservative-led effort to end “forever wars” happening in statehouses around the country, announced in response to the continuation of active combat in the Middle East for decades carried out without a formal declaration of war by Congress.

 

CHEYENNE — Friday may have just marked an introductory vote for the bill, but Rep. Tyler Lindholm, R-Sundance, wasn’t about to take any chances in it failing, bringing U.S. Sen. Rand Paul to the Capitol to rally support for his “Defend The Guard Act,” which would restrict national guard deployments without a formal declaration of war by Congress.

The legislation is part of a larger conservative-led effort to end “forever wars” happening in statehouses around the country, announced in response to the continuation of active combat in the Middle East for decades carried out without a formal declaration of war by Congress.

In a joint news conference in the rotunda of the Capitol on Friday morning, Lindholm — flanked by the junior senator from Kentucky — recalled his own time in uniform and the cause he fought for, pondering whether he could support a similar war should his daughter decide to serve.

“I want there to be a mission,” he said. “I want there to be a purpose. I want Congress to be on the line and say yes or no.”
For Paul — in town for an event in support his friend Cynthia Lummis’ Senate campaign — the decision to take his support to Wyoming tied in with a greater effort by state legislatures to make themselves heard on foreign policy, a call he said has largely gone unheeded by members of Congress.

That include individuals like Wyoming’s lone congresswoman Liz Cheney, Paul said, with whom he has feuded for months over her hawkish stances on the Middle East. 

“Much of the country has learned that the Iraq War was a mistake — it made Iran stronger; it made havens for terrorism worse,” Paul said in an interview with the Star-Tribune. “I don’t think the Cheneys have gotten that message and someone needs to talk to them about how the Iraq War was a mistake.”

“It made Iran stronger, it made us weaker, and it made terrorism grow and encouraged chaos in the Middle East,” he added. “The same with Libya, which they supported also. We’re just really on opposite sides of this debate.” Paul recently co-sponsored legislation to hem President Donald Trump’s war powers, one of a handful of Republican members of Congress to do so.

A vote on Lindholm’s bill is expected sometime Friday afternoon. “I need two-thirds,” he said. “I need 40 representatives to stand up and look Congress in the eye and say this.”
 

Link To Story: https://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/kentucky-sen-rand-paul-visits-wyoming-capitol-to-back-lindholm/article_3726d184-10e0-54d4-bbbc-777120765cca.html