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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
SENATE BILL 29 By: Dahm
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to the Oklahoma National Guard;
creating the Defend the Guard Act ; defining terms;
requiring an official declaration of war or an action
to call forth the state militia by the United Sta tes
Congress before members of the Oklahoma National
Guard may be released from state control t o
participate in active duty combat; allowing for
consent of certain missions; providing for
codification; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new sec tion of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 72.1 of Title 44, unless there
is created a duplication in numb ering, reads as follows:
A. This section shall be known a nd may be cited as the “Defend
the Guard Act”.
B. For the purposes of t his section:
1. “Active duty combat” means performing the following services
in the active federal military service of the United S tates:
a. participation in an armed conflict ,
b. performance of a hazardous service in a foreign state ,
or
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c. performance of a duty through an instrumentality of
war; and
2. “Official declaration of war” means an official declaration
of war made by the United States Congress pursuant to Article I,
Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States C onstitution.
C. Notwithstanding any other provision of The Oklahoma Military
Code, the Oklahoma National Guard and any member thereof shall not
be released from the state into a ctive duty combat unless the United
States Congress has passed an official declaration of war or has
taken an official action pursua nt to Article I, Section 8, Clause 15
of the United States Constitution to explicitly call forth the
Oklahoma National Guard and any member thereof for the enumerated
purposes to expressly execute the laws of the Union, repel an
invasion, or suppress an insurrection. The Governor shall take all
actions necessary to comply with the req uirements of this section.
D. Nothing in this act shall limit or prohibit the Governor
from consenting to the deployment of any Ok lahoma National Guard
member on Title 32, United States Code, defense support for civil
authority missions within the United States or United States
territories.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
59-1-959 KR 12/13/2022 10:08:29 AM