State GOP Chairman Allen West Remarks on Upcoming "Defend the Guard" Legislation

(Boise, Idaho) — On March 16, Chairman Allen West of the Texas Republican Party sat down for an extensive interview with YouTuber Tim Pool, and spoke at length regarding what it means to serve in the National Guard, and why Texas Republicans must take action to protect their National Guard from federal impropriety and illegality. 

"First and foremost you're going to be serving that state," said Lt. Col. West, when asked by a viewer who was considering becoming a Guardsman. West served twenty-two years in the U.S. Army, and is currently part of the Texas State Guard. "The great thing about our men and women that serve, they don't take an oath to a political party, they don't take an oath to a person, they took and oath to the Constitution of the United States of America."

BringOurTroopsHome.US, a veterans advocacy organization composed of former soldiers of the Global War on Terror and their civilian allies, wholly agrees with this message. A Guardsman's first loyalty is to their neighbors who they serve to protect, and to their fellow Americans, more than any foreign "obligation." And a Guardsman's primary duty is to the U.S. Constitution, which states explicitly in Article I Section 8 that only Congress has the authority "to declare war." 

Unfortunately, the federal government has seen fit to disobey their own law for over seventy years. Our present, endless wars in the Middle East are a consequence of executive overreach and our country should not go to war unless one has been formally declared by the U.S. Congress. 

Our view is in accordance with the written platform of the Republican Party of Texas, which states as Principle 302: "Congress shall not abdicate the war powers to the executive branch except when under imminent threat and not to be used as a preemptive strike unless approved by Congress. The Texas National Guard should only be deployed to overseas combat zones under authorization of Congress through a declaration of war."

To fulfill this principle, Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-District 2) has introduced H.B. No. 2701, the "Defend the Guard Act." If passed, this bill would prohibit the deployment of the Texas National Guard into active combat without an official declaration of war by the U.S. Congress.

Chairman West stands by his party platform, and encouraged all Texas Republicans to remain faithful to it. "Any group associated with the Republican Party of Texas supports the platforms of the Republican Party of Texas because if you don't support the platforms then you're undermining what the Republican Party of Texas stands for," he told Tim Pool.

"I agree that we have to defend our guard...I am really concerned about the abuse of our National Guard by this Biden administration," West said when asked about H.B. No. 2701.

BringOurTroopsHome.US hopes all elected Republicans of the Texas legislature will remember the message of their state party platform and the words of their state party chairman when "Defend the Guard" comes under review of the House Defense & Veterans Affairs Committee next week.