South-Carolina

South Carolina Bill Would Set Foundation to End Unconstitutional National Guard Deployments | Tenth Amendment Center

Published

12 months ago

December 12, 2023

South Carolina Bill Would Set Foundation to End Unconstitutional National Guard Deployments | Tenth Amendment Center

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Dec. 11, 2023) – A bill filed in the South Carolina House would require the governor to stop unconstitutional foreign combat deployments of the state’s National Guard troops. Passage into law would take a step toward restoring the founders’ framework for a state-federal balance under the Constitution.

Rep. Thomas Beach filed House Bill 4533 (H4533) on Nov. 16. Titled the Defend the Guard Act, the legislation would prohibit the governor from releasing any unit or member of the South Carolina National Guard into “active duty combat” unless Congress has passed an official declaration of war or “has taken an official action pursuant to Clause 15, Section 8, Article I, of the United States Constitution to explicitly call forth the South Carolina 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.”

“Active duty combat” is defined as performing the following services in the active federal military of the United States:

Participation in an armed conflict;
Performance of a hazardous service relating to an armed conflict in a foreign state; or
Performance of a duty through an instrumentality of war.

An official declaration of war is defined as “an official declaration of war made by the United States Congress pursuant to Clause 11, Section 8, Article I, of the United States Constitution.”

IN PRACTICE

National Guard troops have played significant roles in all modern overseas conflicts, with over 650,000 deployed since 2001. Military.com reports that “Guard and Reserve units made up about 45 percent of the total force sent to Iraq and Afghanistan, and received about 18.4 percent of the casualties.” More specifically, South Carolina National Guard troops have participated in missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Kuwait, Kosovo and elsewhere.

Since none of these missions fall under the three criteria constitutionally necessary to call up the militia, the South Carolina Defend the Guard Act would have prohibited those deployments.

BACKGROUND

Article I, Section 8, Clauses 15 and 16 make up the “militia clauses” of the Constitution. Clause 16 authorizes Congress to “provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia.” Through the Dick Act of 1903, Congress organized the militia into today’s National Guard, limiting the part of the militia that could be called into federal service rather than the “entire body of people,” which makes up the totality of the “militia.” Thus, today’s National Guard is governed by the “militia clauses” of the Constitution, and this view is confirmed by the National Guard itself.

Clause 15 delegates to Congress the power to provide for “calling forth the militia” in three situations only: 1) to execute the laws of the union, 2) to suppress insurrections, and 3) to repel invasions.

During state ratifying conventions, proponents of the Constitution, including James Madison and Edmund Randolph, repeatedly assured the people that this power to call forth the militia into federal service would be limited to those very specific situations, and not for general purposes, like helping victims of a disease outbreak or engaging in “kinetic military actions.”

RETURNING TO THE CONSTITUTION

The founding generation was careful to ensure the president wouldn’t have the power to drag the United States into endless wars. James Madison made this clear in a letter to Thomas Jefferson.

The constitution supposes, what the History of all Governments demonstrates, that the Executive is the branch of power most interested in war, & most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care, vested the question of war in the Legislature.

Congress has abrogated its responsibility and allowed the president to exercise almost complete discretion when it comes to war. Passage of Defend the Guard legislation would pressure Congress to do its constitutional duty.

West Virginia Rep. Pat McGeehan served as an Air Force intelligence officer in Afghanistan and has sponsored similar legislation in his state.

“For decades, the power of war has long been abused by this supreme executive, and unfortunately our men and women in uniform have been sent off into harm’s way over and over,” he said. “If the U.S. Congress is unwilling to reclaim its constitutional obligation, then the states themselves must act to correct the erosion of constitutional law.”

Passage of Defend the Guard would also force the federal government to only use the Guard for the three expressly delegated purposes in the Constitution, and at other times to remain where the Guard belongs, at home, supporting and protecting their home state.

While getting this bill passed won’t be easy and will face fierce opposition from the establishment, it certainly is, as Daniel Webster once noted, “one of the reasons state governments even exist.”

Webster made this observation in an 1814 speech on the floor of Congress where he urged actions similar to the Florida Defend the Guard Act. He said, “The operation of measures thus unconstitutional and illegal ought to be prevented by a resort to other measures which are both constitutional and legal. It will be the solemn duty of the State governments to protect their own authority over their own militia, and to interpose between their citizens and arbitrary power. These are among the objects for which the State governments exist.”

WHAT’S NEXT

H4533 will be officially introduced and referred to the House Committee on Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs when the legislative session begins on Jan. 9. Once in committee, it must get a hearing and pass by a majority vote before moving forward in the legislative process.

Tags: Defend the Guard, H4533, South Carolina, War Powers

South-Carolina

Warde Manuel discusses how Clemson-South Carolina winner could see College Football Playoff resume boosted

Published

3 hours ago

November 27, 2024

Press Room

Warde Manuel discusses how Clemson-South Carolina winner could see College Football Playoff resume boosted

Ranked No. 12, Clemson is just on the outside looking in at the College Football Playoff. But the Tigers could help their case on Saturday.

Hosting in-state rival and No. 15 ranked South Carolina, Clemson could notch a very meaningful win. And on top of being the best win the Tigers would have notched all season, it would be a strong final argument to make for the selection committee — assuming Clemson doesn’t back into the ACC title game.

While he didn’t comment on specifics of a hypothetical, CFP selection committee chair Warde Manuel acknowledged a win would surely help Clemson’s case to snag an at-large bid, when asked directly about the Tigers.

“I’ll continue to say we don’t look forward and we don’t project, but winning always helps. I will say that,” Manuel said. “When teams win, we value what they do. I don’t know what that would mean towards where they will be in projecting, but there is value in winning games.”

And it’s a boost that could cut both ways. As much as a win could help Clemson, it could be equally valuable to South Carolina as the Gamecocks try to get in position for an improbable at-large bid, one that would require some chaos ahead in the rankings.

Manuel also explained why Clemson slotted at No. 12 ahead of a cadre of SEC teams.

With Clemson slotted in at No. 12 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, ahead of the likes of Alabama and Ole Miss, the decision of skeptics, despite the Tigers having a slightly better win-loss record.

Both the Crimson Tide and Rebels are 8-3, but have arguably better resumes than Clemson, which lacks many big wins. Nevertheless, the selection committee found the Tigers resume to be just enough to put them ahead, according to Manuel.

“Well, Clemson slid up with some losses ahead of them by Alabama and Mississippi, and they had a win against Citadel, obviously, but that wasn’t the big reason,” Manuel said. “Obviously they’re at 9-2, with only two losses. The teams right behind them have three losses. We just felt as a committee as we looked at their body of work, with three straight wins after their loss to Louisville, including back-to-back wins against Virginia Tech and Pitt, that they deserved to move up into that 12th position.”

Manuel also discussed how the committee came to the decision to delineate Alabama and Ole Miss as the No. 13 and No. 14 teams, respectively.

Three SEC teams – Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina – have three losses, and all eyes were on where they’d come in during the fourth rankings reveal.

Ultimately, Alabama came in as the highest-ranked of the group at No. 13, followed by Ole Miss at No. 14 and South Carolina at No. 15. According to Manuel, that decision was largely due to head-to-head matchups.

Manuel said the Crimson Tide’s resume – which includes wins over Georgia, Missouri and LSU – was a separator in the committee’s decision. But since Alabama and Ole Miss both have wins over South Carolina, that led them to come in at 13, 14 and 15, respectively.

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South-Carolina

Shane Beamer updates injuries going into Clemson game

Published

10 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Press Room

Shane Beamer updates injuries going into Clemson game

For the first time really all year, South Carolina football is facing some injury questions. Wide reciever Jared Brown, tight ends Joshua Simon and Michael Smith all missed the Wofford game last week, forcing the Gamecocks to change up their approach offensively and play with one or no tight ends all day.

On Tuesday afternoon at his weekly press conference, Shane Beamer updated the injury sitution going into Saturday’s game at Clemson.

Regarding Brown, Beamer said “he’ll be fine” and confirmed the Coastal Carolina transfer will play in his first rivalry game this weekend. Wide reciever Vandrevius Jacobs on the other hand is out this weekend with a hamstring injury he suffered against Wofford.

Beamer did not have a further update on either of the tight ends, simply saying “we’ll see” with regards to Simon and Smith.

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South-Carolina

Keys to Success for Clemson Tigers Against South Carolina Gamecocks

Published

18 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Press Room

Keys to Success for Clemson Tigers Against South Carolina Gamecocks

The Clemson Tigers are getting ready for what will be a crucial game in Week 14 against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

This rivalry matchup is not going to disappoint, as both teams are coming into the game as Top-25 schools. For the Tigers, there is a lot on the line in this matchup.

Due to Clemson not holding the tie-breaker against the Miami Hurricanes in the ACC and the SMU Mustangs already clinching a spot, the Tigers are going to have to hope for a Hurricanes’ loss to the Syracuse Orange if they are going to make the title game.

However, due to recent upsets in the SEC, another path might have emerged for Clemson to make the College Football Playoffs. If they can beat a Top-25 team in the Gamecocks on Saturday, it could be the type of statement win that propels them into an at-large bid.

While making the CFP still might be realistic, they first and foremost have to handle South Carolina, which will be no easy task.

The Gamecocks have also had a great season, and they could present some matchup problems for Clemson.

On offense, South Carolina is a run first team. Stopping the run has been an issue at times for the Tigers, as they just recently got torched on the ground against The Citadel Bulldogs. If Clemson is unable to stop or at least slow down the rushing attack for the Gamecocks, it will allow them to control the pace of the game. That obviously wouldn’t be ideal for the Tigers.

Furthermore, on the defensive side of things, the Tigers’ offense is going to have their work cut out for them against a very strong Gamecocks defense. Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik has had a very strong season and this could end up being a defining game of his college career.

Going back to the win against the Pittsburgh Panthers, the Tigers’ offense really struggled on the ground trying to run the football. If that’s the case once again in Week 14, it will fall on the shoulders of Klubnik to get the job done.

This matchup could very well go down as one of the games of the week and potentially the year, with both teams being fairly even talent-wise on paper. For Clemson, this is a must-win game to keep their playoff hopes alive, as a win this late in the season against a Top-25 team would be a nice last thing to put on their resume.

Overall, the Tigers are going to need to have a balanced attack and prepare to stop the run if they are going to come away with the win against their rival.

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