They said “It can’t be done” but you did it.
They said “Grass-roots activism won’t work in Tennessee” but it did.
They said “The Libertarian Party of Tennessee isn’t big or powerful enough to make a difference” but you said “I’ll do it anyway” AND IT WORKED!:
HB1909 Defend The Guard legislation has been filed in the Tennessee House of Representatives and has two sponsors: Rep. Jay Reedy who represents District 74 (Benton, Houston, Humphreys, Stewart and part of Henry Counties) and Rep. Bryan Richey who represents District 20 (Part of Blount County)!
This is HUGE, and it is the result of tireless and relentless efforts of members of the Libertarian Party of Tennessee like you combined with volunteers from Defend The Guard. Take a second to pat yourself on the back… but only a second, because we aren’t finished yet.
As you might already know, Defend The Guard legislation will make it illegal for the Governor to release any Tennessee Air and Army National Guard members to the federal government for foreign combat deployments without a formal declaration of war by the US Congress as required by Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. Passing it will restore constitutional powers that belong with the state government back to Tennessee where they belong. And it might even make war a little harder to wage.
Your LPTN Excom Board is issuing a challenge to all LPTN members and friends: Mobilize and do our part to see this through to the finish line. What do you say? Are you in?
Here’s what we all need to do:
* Use this link to get the contact information for your representative and senator (put your address in the search box in the top left of the map that displays): Find Your Tennessee Legislator
* Send a short email to both of them.
* Tell them that you are a constituent of theirs (consider putting your address in the email so they can check and make sure).
* Ask them to sign on as sponsor of HB1609 and any companion bill filed in the Senate, or to at the very least support it in committee and final passage.
* Tell them that the legislation has the support of many veterans and veterans organizations and that support is growing as fast as we can get the word out.
* Then take 5 minutes on your lunch break to call their office and tell them the same things.
* Don’t feel like you need to be an expert on the subject or have to spend a lot of time on the phone. Just say, “Hey, I’m on my lunch break and I don’t have time to get into the details but I want to make sure Rep/Sen __________ knows that…” and just read the bullet points above.
* Finally, we’d like to know how it went. Let us know how by sending an email to legislative@lptn.org. Let us know who you talked to and where they stand. Did they make any promises? We’ll hold them to it. Did they blow you off? We’ve got a program for that as well!
It’s really that simple. And it WORKS! We are already further along than the “naysayers” said we would ever get. Let’s get this legislation all the way to the finish line! Are you ready to help make it happen?
Let’s go!
