State Rep. Steve Carra said on Thursday that the best way to honor military members and their families is to pass “Defend the Guard” legislation that would require an official declaration of war before putting the Michigan National Guard in harm’s way.

“We should have the decency to declare war before we send our brave men and women to fight overseas,” said Carra, R-Three Rivers. “That’s how we show respect for their heroic sacrifice, by properly acknowledging the tremendous cost of what we are asking them to do.”

Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the authority to declare war. Congress has not officially declared war since WWII, but our country has been involved in foreign conflicts for decades.

“The reason that power to declare war rests with Congress is because Congress is the voice of the people,” Carra said. “It’s the people who are supposed to have the power to decide whether or not our country should be engaged in conflict. Too often decisions are made by warmongers and the military industrial complex and it’s the people who serve who pay the price.”

Carra’s legislation would prohibit the governor from sending Michigan’s National Guard into active-duty combat outside our country unless there is a formal declaration of war.

“The way to show respect for those we’ve lost and those who are currently serving is to make sure that military action is supported by the people,” Carra said.

House Bill 4336, sponsored by Carra, is currently in the House Military, Veterans, and Homeland Security Committee awaiting consideration.