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 re-
ferred 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘State Defense Force 
Improvement Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Domestic threats to national security and 
the increased use of National Guard forces for out- 
of-State deployments greatly increase the potential 
for service by members of State defense forces estab-
lished under section 109(c) of title 32, United States 
Code. 
(2) The efficacy of State defense forces is im-
peded by lack of clarity in the Federal regulations 
concerning those forces, particularly in defining lev-
els of coordination and cooperation between those 
forces and the Departments of Defense and Home-
land Security. 
(3) The State defense forces suffer from lack of 
standardized military training, arms, equipment, 
support, and coordination with the Departments of 
Defense and Homeland Security and other Federal 
agencies as a result of real and perceived Federal 
regulatory impediments. 
SEC. 3. RECOGNITION OF STATE DEFENSE FORCES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 109 of title 32, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 
subsections (l) and (m), respectively; 
(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing new subsections:
‘‘(d) RECOGNITION.—Congress hereby recognizes 
forces established under subsection (c) as an integral mili-
tary component of the Nation’s homeland security effort, 
while reaffirming that those forces remain entirely State 
regulated, organized, and equipped and recognizing that 
those forces will be used for homeland security purposes 
exclusively at the local level and in accordance with State 
law. 
‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE BY DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.— 
(1) The Secretary of Defense is authorized to coordinate 
homeland security efforts with, and to provide assistance 
to, a defense force established under subsection (c) to the 
extent such assistance is requested by a State or by a force 
established under subsection (c) and subject to the provi-
sions of this section. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary may not provide assistance under 
paragraph (1) if, in the judgment of the Secretary, such 
assistance would— 
‘‘(A) impede the ability of the Department of 
Defense to execute missions of the Department; 
‘‘(B) take resources away from warfighting 
units; 
‘‘(C) incur nonreimbursed identifiable costs; or
‘‘(D) consume resources in a manner incon-
sistent with the mission of the Department of De-
fense. 
‘‘(f) ASSISTANCE BY DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 
SECURITY.—The Secretary of Homeland Security is au-
thorized to coordinate homeland security efforts with, and 
to provide assistance to, a defense force established under 
subsection (c) to the extent such assistance is requested 
by a State or by a force established under subsection (c) 
if so authorized by State law, and subject to the provisions 
of this section. 
‘‘(g) USE OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PROPERTY 
AND EQUIPMENT.—The Secretary of Defense may author-
ize qualified personnel of a force established under sub-
section (c) to use and operate property, arms, equipment, 
and facilities of the Department of Defense as needed in 
the course of training activities and State active duty 
‘‘(h) TRANSFER OF EXCESS EQUIPMENT.—(1) The 
Secretary of Defense may transfer to a State or a force 
established under subsection (c) any personal property of 
the Department of Defense that the Secretary determines 
is— 
‘‘(A) excess to the needs of the Department of 
Defense; and
‘‘(B) suitable for use by a force established 
under subsection (c). 
‘‘(2) The Secretary of Defense may transfer personal 
property under this section only if— 
‘‘(A) the property is drawn from existing stocks 
of the Department of Defense; 
‘‘(B) the recipient force established under sub-
section (c) accepts the property on an as-is, where- 
is basis; 
‘‘(C) the transfer is made without the expendi-
ture of any funds available to the Department of 
Defense for the procurement of defense equipment; 
and 
‘‘(D) all costs incurred subsequent to the trans-
fer of the property are borne or reimbursed by the 
recipient. 
‘‘(3) Subject to paragraph (2)(D), the Secretary may 
transfer personal property under this section without 
charge to the recipient force established under subsection 
(c). 
‘‘(i) FEDERAL/STATE TRAINING COORDINATION.— 
(1) Participation by a force established under subsection 
(c) in a training program of the Department of Defense 
or Department of Homeland Security is at the discretion 
of the State.
‘‘(2) Nothing in this section may be construed as re-
quiring the Department of Defense or Department of 
Homeland Security to provide any training program to 
any such force. 
‘‘(3) Any such training program shall be conducted 
in accordance with an agreement between— 
‘‘(A) the Secretary of Defense or Secretary of 
Homeland Security, as the case may be; and 
‘‘(B) the State or the force established under 
subsection (c) if so authorized by State law. 
‘‘(4) Any direct costs to the Department of Defense 
of providing training assistance to a force established 
under subsection (c) shall be reimbursed by the State. Any 
agreement under paragraph (3) between the Department 
of Defense and a State or a force established under sub-
section (c) for such training assistance shall provide for 
payment of such costs. 
‘‘(j) FEDERAL
FUNDING
OF
STATE
DEFENSE 
FORCES.—Funds available to the Department of Defense 
may not be made available to a State defense force. 
‘‘(k) LIABILITY.—Any liability for injuries or dam-
ages incurred by a member of a force established under 
subsection (c) while engaged in training activities or State 
active duty shall be the sole responsibility of the State, 
regardless of whether the injury or damage was incurred
on United States property or involved United States 
equipment or whether the member was under direct super-
vision of United States personnel at the time of the inci-
dent.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(n) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘State’ 
includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section is 
further amended in subsections (a), (b), and (c) by strik-
ing ‘‘or Territory,’’ and all that follows through ‘‘of Co-
lumbia’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) SECTION HEADING.—The heading of such 
section is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 109. Maintenance of other troops: State defense 
forces’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating 
to such section in the table of sections at the begin-
ning of chapter 1 of such title is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘109. Maintenance of other troops: State defense forces.’’. 
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