Vt. Lawmakers Want Nat'l Guard Back Home

[cal04]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/02/national/main3782021.shtml

Bill Says President's Authority To Send Guard Members To Iraq Has Expired
Fed up that Washington hasn't done more to end the war, a group of Vermont lawmakers said this week that the president no longer has the authority to use Guard troops in Iraq.

State Rep. Michael Fisher said the authority to call up Guard members for Iraq duty has expired because that country no longer poses a threat to U.S. national security.

"The mission authorized in 2002 does not exist," said Fisher. "Unless Congress grants a new authorization, the Vermont Guard should revert back to state control."

Fisher introduced a bill Wednesday, backed by 30 colleagues, that called on Gov. Jim Douglas to join the effort.

"Most of us standing here, maybe all of us, have made objections in the past about the morality or wisdom of this war. Today we are limiting ourselves to one vital principle: the rule of law," Fisher said.

[scarletwoman]

1. I don't know Vermont politics. How far is this bill likely to get? It's wonderful, I wish other

states would follow suit.

It's not just about Iraq, either. It's about individual states maintaining any sovereign power whatsoever.

sw

[havocmom]

2. Vermont seems to provide a lot of very sane people