I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 206 

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 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina (for himself 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’’. 

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 AND SUPPORT FOR STATE DE20 FENSE FORCES. 

21 (a) RECOGNITION AND SUPPORT.—Section 109 of 

22 title 32, United States Code, is amended— 

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

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


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1 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol2 lowing new subsections: 

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

4 forces established under subsection (c) as an integral mili5 tary component of the homeland security effort of the 

6 United States, while reaffirming that those forces remain 

7 entirely State regulated, organized, and equipped and rec8 ognizing that those forces will be used for homeland secu9 rity purposes exclusively at the local level and in accord10 ance with State law. 

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

12 (1) The Secretary of Defense may coordinate homeland 

13 security efforts with, and provide assistance to, a defense 

14 force established under subsection (c) to the extent such 

15 assistance is requested by a State or by a force established 

16 under subsection (c) and subject to the provisions of this 

17 section. 

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

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

20 assistance would— 

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

22 Defense to execute missions of the Department; 

23 ‘‘(B) take resources away from warfighting 

24 units; 

25 ‘‘(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 may co6 ordinate homeland security efforts with, and provide as7 sistance to, a defense force established under subsection 

8 (c) to the extent such assistance is requested by a State 

9 or by a force established under subsection (c) if so author10 ized by State law, and subject to the provisions of this 

11 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.’’. 

5 (b) DEFINITION OF STATE.— 

6 (1) DEFINITION.—Such section is further 

7 amended by adding at the end the following new 

8 subsection: 

9 ‘‘(n) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

10 ‘State’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common11 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.’’. 

12 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section 

13 is further amended in subsections (a), (b), and (c) 

14 by striking ‘‘a State, the Commonwealth of Puerto 

15 Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, or the Virgin 

16 Islands’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘a 

17 State’’. 

18 (c) STYLISTIC AMENDMENTS.—Such section is fur19 ther amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘PROHIBI21 TION ON MAINTENANCE OF OTHER TROOPS.—’’ 

22 after ‘‘(a)’’; 

23 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘USE WITH24 IN STATE BORDERS.—’’ after ‘‘(b)’’; 


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1 (3) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘STATE DE2 FENSE FORCES AUTHORIZED.—’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; 

3 (4) in subsection (l), as redesignated by sub4 section (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘EFFECT OF MEMBER5 SHIP IN DEFENSE FORCES.—’’ after ‘‘(l)’’; and 

6 (5) in subsection (m), as redesignated by sub7 section (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘PROHIBITION ON RE8 SERVE COMPONENT MEMBERS JOINING DEFENSE

9 FORCES.—’’ after ‘‘(m)’’ 

10 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

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

12 section is amended to read as follows: 

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

14 forces’’. 

15 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating 

16 to such section in the table of sections at the begin17 ning of chapter 1 of such title is amended to read 

18 as follows: 

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

Æ 


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