New Hampshire Veterans Testify Against Unconstitutional Wars

 

by Bring Our Troops Home 

Posted onJanuary 23, 2023

(Boise, Idaho) – On Friday, January 20 the State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs Committee of the New Hampshire House of Representatives held a committee hearing on H.B. 229, the "Defend the Guard Act." If passed, this bill would prohibit the deployment the New Hampshire National Guard into active combat without a declaration of war by Congress, as required by Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution.

You can watch the complete hearing here.

"I myself am a Vietnam veteran, which precedes the National Guard being called up for ‘whatever.’ And I don’t like the ‘whatever.’ There should be a reason why they’re called up, and [there] should be justification with the Congress. Vietnam was a war whether they had a declaration of war or not, it was a war. I have enough friends who are on the wall in Washington. They died for a cause," Rep. John Potucek (R-Rockingham 13), the bill’s primary sponsor, told the committee. "I didn’t know a lot about the Guard problem until I got involved in this, and the folks from Bring Our Troops Home sent me this very, extremely informative booklet on defending the Guard. And it’s now called the Defend the Guard bill."

Bring Our Troops Home is national, non-partisan veterans organization which advocates the return of congressional war powers and cessation of the United States’ unconstitutional wars in the Middle East and Africa.

"New Hampshire is an example of what can happen when American citizens, especially veterans, stand up to be counted. The Defend the Guard Act uses the age-old principle of federalism to ensure that the federal government obeys our founding document, and does not commit our nation to undeclared wars of aggression," said Sgt. Dan McKnight, Chairman of Bring Our Troops Home. "To quote Daniel Webster, one of the finest men New Hampshire has ever produced, ‘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 [by the federal government].’ State legislatures have that same duty today when it comes to our country’s endless wars."

Sgt. Dan McKnight is a thirteen year veteran of the US military, with service in the US Marine Corps Reserves, US Army, and Idaho Army National Guard, including an eighteen month combat deployment in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2007. He founded Bring Our Troops Home in 2019.

Fourteen residents of the Granite State testified in favor of H.B. 229, including:

• Rep. John Potucek (R-Rockingham 13), ret. US Air Force, combat veteran of Vietnam War
• Rep. Matthew Santonastaso (R-Cheshire 18), ret. US Army (82nd Airborne Division), combat medic of Iraq War
• Rep. Michael Granger (R-Strafford 2), ret. New York National Guard, veteran of Afghanistan War
• Rep. Tom Mannion (R-Hillsborough 1), ret. US Marine Corps, combat veteran of Iraq War
• Rep. Jess Edwards (R-Rockingham 31), ret. US Army and New Hampshire National Guard, combat veteran of Afghanistan War
• Rep. Jason Gerhard (R-Merrimack 25)
• Derek Proulx, ret. New Hampshire National Guard
• Noah Blanchette, ret. New Hampshire National Guard
• Joshua Holmes, ret. US Army, combat veteran of Iraq War
• Alec Leone, ret. New Hampshire National Guard
• Will Hopkins, ret. New Hampshire National Guard, combat veteran of Iraq War
• Zephan Wood
• Richard Kahn
• Gabe Holdurn

"Bring Our Troops Home commends each and every person who had the courage and patriotism to testify in favor of H.B. 229. They represent millions of decent Americans who are willing to put the US Constitution ahead of the personal interests of politicians, and value the lives and security of their neighbors over the profits of the military-industrial complex," concluded Sgt. McKnight.

For more information about H.B. 229 and the national Defend the Guard movement, please visit DefendTheGuard.US or contact Communications Director Hunter DeRensis at hderensis@outlook.com to schedule an interview with Sgt. Dan McKnight.

BringOurTroopsHome.US is dedicated to removing our military forces from the Middle East and insisting the Constitution of the United States be faithfully observed. For more information, call Sgt. Dan McKnight 208-917-3507. Or contact info@bringourtroopshome.us or www.bringourtroopshome.us.

https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2023/01/23/new-hampshire-veterans-testify-against-unconstitutional-wars/