I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2797

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 18, 2003

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

JENKINS, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. COLLINS, 

Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. CARDOZA, and Mrs. MYRICK) 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 2003’’. 

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 Department of Defense. 

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

13 adequate military training, equipment, support, and 

14 coordination with the Department of Defense and 

15 other Federal agencies as a result of real and per16 ceived Federal regulatory impediments. 

17 SEC. 3. RECOGNITION OF STATE DEFENSE FORCES. 

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

19 States Code, is amended—

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

21 subsections (i) and (j), respectively; 

22 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol23 lowing new subsections: 

24 ‘‘(d) RECOGNITION.—Congress hereby recognizes 

25 forces established under subsection (c) as an integral mili-
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1 tary component of the Nation’s homeland security effort, 

2 while reaffirming that those forces remain entirely State 

3 regulated, organized, and equipped and recognizing that 

4 those forces will be used for homeland security purposes 

5 exclusively at the local level and in accordance with State 

6 law. 

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

8 The Secretary of Defense is authorized to coordinate 

9 homeland security efforts with, and to provide assistance 

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

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

12 established under subsection (c) and subject to the provi13 sions of this section. 

14 ‘‘(f) USE OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PROPERTY

15 AND EQUIPMENT.—(1) The Secretary of Defense may au16 thorize qualified personnel of a force established under 

17 subsection (c) to use and operate property, equipment, and 

18 facilities of the Department of Defense as needed in the 

19 course of training activities and State active duty. 

20 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of Defense may determine meth21 ods to expedite the ability of forces established under sub22 section (c) to have access to surplus Department of De23 fense equipment, consistent with the authorized mission 

24 of such forces, in a manner that will not result in direct 

25 or indirect costs to the Department of Defense. 
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1 ‘‘(g) FEDERAL/STATE TRAINING COORDINATION.—

2 (1) Participation by a force established under subsection 

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

4 is at the discretion of the State. 

5 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this section may be construed as re6 quiring the Department of Defense to provide any training 

7 program to any such force. 

8 ‘‘(3) Any such coordinated training program shall be 

9 conducted in accordance with a joint voluntary agreement 

10 between the Department of Defense and the State or the 

11 force established under subsection (c). 

12 ‘‘(4) Any direct or indirect costs to the Department 

13 of Defense of providing training assistance to a force es14 tablished under subsection (c) shall be reimbursed by the 

15 State. Any agreement between the Department of Defense 

16 and a State or a force established under subsection (c) 

17 for such training assistance shall provide for payment of 

18 such costs. 

19 ‘‘(h) LIABILITY.—Any liability for injuries or dam20 ages incurred by a member of a force established under 

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

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

23 regardless of whether the injury or damage was incurred 

24 on United States property or involved United States 

25 equipment or whether the member was under direct super-
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1 vision of United States personnel at the time of the inci2 dent.’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub4 section: 

5 ‘‘(k) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘State’ 

6 includes a Territory, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 

7 and the District of Columbia.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section is 

9 further amended in subsections (a), (b), and (c) by strik10 ing ‘‘or Territory,’’ and all that follows through ‘‘of Co11 lumbia’’. 

12 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—(1) The heading of 

13 such section is amended to read as follows: 

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

15 forces’’. 

16 (2) The item relating to such section in the table of 

17 sections at the beginning of chapter 1 of such title is 

18 amended to read as follows:

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

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