I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3401 

To amend title 32, United States Code, to improve the readiness of State 

defense forces and to increase military coordination for homeland security 

between the States and the Department of Defense. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 21, 2005 

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. 

NORWOOD, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. 

SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. BURTON of 

Indiana, and Mr. FORTUN ̃O) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 32, United States Code, to improve the 

readiness of State defense forces and to increase military 

coordination for homeland security between the States 

and the Department of Defense. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘State Defense Force 

5 Improvement Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 
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1 (1) Domestic threats to national security and 

2 the increased use of National Guard forces for out3 of-State deployments greatly increase the potential 

4 for service by members of State defense forces estab5 lished under section 109(c) of title 32, United States 

6 Code. 

7 (2) The efficacy of State defense forces is im8 peded by lack of clarity in the Federal regulations 

9 concerning those forces, particularly in defining lev10 els of coordination and cooperation between those 

11 forces and the Departments of Defense and Home12 land Security. 

13 (3) The State defense forces suffer from lack of 

14 standardized military training, arms, equipment, 

15 support, and coordination with the Departments of 

16 Defense and Homeland Security and other Federal 

17 agencies as a result of real and perceived Federal 

18 regulatory impediments. 

19 SEC. 3. RECOGNITION OF STATE DEFENSE FORCES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 109 of title 32, United 

21 States Code, is amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 

23 subsections (l) and (m), respectively; 

24 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol25 lowing new subsections: 
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1 ‘‘(d) RECOGNITION.—Congress hereby recognizes 

2 forces established under subsection (c) as an integral mili3 tary component of the Nation’s homeland security effort, 

4 while reaffirming that those forces remain entirely State 

5 regulated, organized, and equipped and recognizing that 

6 those forces will be used for homeland security purposes 

7 exclusively at the local level and in accordance with State 

8 law. 

9 ‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE BY DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.— 

10 (1) The Secretary of Defense is authorized to coordinate 

11 homeland security efforts with, and to provide assistance 

12 to, a defense force established under subsection (c) to the 

13 extent such assistance is requested by a State or by a force 

14 established under subsection (c) and subject to the provi15 sions of this section. 

16 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may not provide assistance under 

17 paragraph (1) if, in the judgment of the Secretary, such 

18 assistance would— 

19 ‘‘(A) impede the ability of the Department of 

20 Defense to execute missions of the Department; 

21 ‘‘(B) take resources away from warfighting 

22 units; 

23 ‘‘(C) incur nonreimbursed identifiable costs; or 
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1 ‘‘(D) consume resources in a manner incon2 sistent with the mission of the Department of De3 fense. 

4 ‘‘(f) ASSISTANCE BY DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND

5 SECURITY.—The Secretary of Homeland Security is au6 thorized to coordinate homeland security efforts with, and 

7 to provide assistance to, a defense force established under 

8 subsection (c) to the extent such assistance is requested 

9 by a State or by a force established under subsection (c) 

10 if so authorized by State law, and subject to the provisions 

11 of this section. 

12 ‘‘(g) USE OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PROPERTY

13 AND EQUIPMENT.—The Secretary of Defense may author14 ize qualified personnel of a force established under sub15 section (c) to use and operate property, arms, equipment, 

16 and facilities of the Department of Defense as needed in 

17 the course of training activities and State active duty 

18 ‘‘(h) TRANSFER OF EXCESS EQUIPMENT.—(1) The 

19 Secretary of Defense may transfer to a State or a force 

20 established under subsection (c) any personal property of 

21 the Department of Defense that the Secretary determines 

22 is— 

23 ‘‘(A) excess to the needs of the Department of 

24 Defense; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) suitable for use by a force established 

2 under subsection (c). 

3 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of Defense may transfer personal 

4 property under this section only if— 

5 ‘‘(A) the property is drawn from existing stocks 

6 of the Department of Defense; 

7 ‘‘(B) the recipient force established under sub8 section (c) accepts the property on an as-is, where9 is basis; 

10 ‘‘(C) the transfer is made without the expendi11 ture of any funds available to the Department of 

12 Defense for the procurement of defense equipment; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(D) all costs incurred subsequent to the trans15 fer of the property are borne or reimbursed by the 

16 recipient. 

17 ‘‘(3) Subject to paragraph (2)(D), the Secretary may 

18 transfer personal property under this section without 

19 charge to the recipient force established under subsection 

20 (c). 

21 ‘‘(i) FEDERAL/STATE TRAINING COORDINATION.— 

22 (1) Participation by a force established under subsection 

23 (c) in a training program of the Department of Defense 

24 or Department of Homeland Security is at the discretion 

25 of the State. 
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1 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this section may be construed as re2 quiring the Department of Defense or Department of 

3 Homeland Security to provide any training program to 

4 any such force. 

5 ‘‘(3) Any such training program shall be conducted 

6 in accordance with an agreement between— 

7 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of Defense or Secretary of 

8 Homeland Security, as the case may be; and 

9 ‘‘(B) the State or the force established under 

10 subsection (c) if so authorized by State law. 

11 ‘‘(4) Any direct costs to the Department of Defense 

12 of providing training assistance to a force established 

13 under subsection (c) shall be reimbursed by the State. Any 

14 agreement under paragraph (3) between the Department 

15 of Defense and a State or a force established under sub16 section (c) for such training assistance shall provide for 

17 payment of such costs. 

18 ‘‘(j) FEDERAL FUNDING OF STATE DEFENSE

19 FORCES.—Funds available to the Department of Defense 

20 may not be made available to a State defense force. 

21 ‘‘(k) LIABILITY.—Any liability for injuries or dam22 ages incurred by a member of a force established under 

23 subsection (c) while engaged in training activities or State 

24 active duty shall be the sole responsibility of the State, 

25 regardless of whether the injury or damage was incurred 
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1 on United States property or involved United States 

2 equipment or whether the member was under direct super3 vision of United States personnel at the time of the inci4 dent.’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub6 section: 

7 ‘‘(n) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘State’ 

8 includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

9 Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section is 

11 further amended in subsections (a), (b), and (c) by strik12 ing ‘‘or Territory,’’ and all that follows through ‘‘of Co13 lumbia’’. 

14 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

15 (1) SECTION HEADING.—The heading of such 

16 section is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘§ 109. Maintenance of other troops: State defense 

18 forces’’. 

19 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating 

20 to such section in the table of sections at the begin21 ning of chapter 1 of such title is amended to read 

22 as follows: 

‘‘109. Maintenance of other troops: State defense forces.’’. 

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