CONCORD — The state Senate on Thursday summarily sidelined a controversial bill that would have prevented the deployment of New Hampshire Army or Air National Guard troops to serve in combat during undeclared wars.
Adjutant Gen. David Mikolaities had warned that passage of the Defend the Guard Act (HB 229) could have put nearly $400 million in federal grants at risk.
After no debate, the Senate shipped the bill off to interim study by voice vote.
Even if senators chose to work on the legislation, the move means it would have to start over as a new bill in 2025.
Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester, said the testimony of many deployed veterans, frustrated about being sent to different military theaters, made an impression on him.
“These men and women are being deployed all over the world, and they are not very happy campers,” D’Allesandro said. “To me it’s a clear indication that our armed forces are dependent on the Guard, and these folks are wondering why we’re always having to be deployed.”
The State Veterans Advisory Committee, Deputy Adj. Gen. Warren Perry and Mikolaities convinced the Senate that the agency could ill afford to have this bill become law, he said.
“The Guard is performing a critical mission for our country, so anything that could threaten financial support for it has to be of great concern,” D’Allesandro said. “The guard becomes even more critical as the traditional armed forces continue to fall short of meeting their goals for recruitment of soldiers. It’s a huge problem.”
The bill was authored by Rep. Tom Mannion, R-Pelham, a Marine Corps veteran twice deployed into combat during the war in Iraq.
“It’s a massive disappointment that the Republican-majority Senate voted against their own party platform by quietly killing Defend the Guard,” Mannion said.
“They have chosen to continue with the status quo of sending the men and women of our state’s guard unit into overseas combat, instead of pushing back against the war machine in D.C. and making Congress do its constitutional duty.”
If reelected, Mannion vowed, he will return with his bill next year.
“New Hampshire has a strong history of opposing the forever wars in the Middle East, and the voters will make their displeasure known this fall,” Mannion said.
After the vote, Senate President Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, said he understood the passion behind this measure.
“Some folks have quite frankly gotten sick and tired of endless wars, but defunding the national guard is not the appropriate response,” said the former congressman.
The legislation was first brought forward in early 2023.
Squeaked through House
Rep. Michael Moffett, R-Loudon, who chairs the House State-Federal Relations and Veteran Affairs Committee, said he was opposed to the measure at first, “but many veterans turned out who were very passionate about this issue and I felt I had to respond to that,” Moffett said.
“Our military has been used too often in the name of national security.”
The House of Representatives narrowly passed the bill in January, 187-182.
The vote did not neatly follow partisan lines; 22 House Democrats voted for it, and 27 House Republicans voted against it.
‘A heavy lift’
“This was a heavy lift, but Tom (Mannion) did a heck of a job to get it as far as he did,” Moffett said.
“I’m not surprised the Senate looked at the financial threat and decided not to go there.”
Last weekend, Mannion and allies had convinced the New Hampshire Republican Party at its convention to add a Defend The Guard plank to its party platform.
The U.S. hasn’t declared war since 1942.
Congressional action adopted in 2001 allows the president to take action necessary to protect national security and does not require a war declaration before an armed conflict, Mikolaities testified.
Perry said governors lack any authority to withhold consent for the deployment of troops into combat.
The Pentagon determines the level of National Guard support that goes to each state, and a law in place such as this could hurt the state’s case for more federal support, Perry warned.
More than 50 who appeared to sign up and support the bill before the Senate Finance Committee while the two guard executives and three other individuals spoke against it.
D’Allesandro said the frustration of guardsmen hit a high mark during the war in Iraq when the U.S. went to seize weapons of mass destruction under Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein that were never found.
“We were lied to, we went there on false premises, we spent trillions of dollars and lost thousands of lives and for what?” D’Allesandro asked rhetorically.
“I think that’s where this frustration started, and it’s continued to build and build over these many deployments.”
