The Army National Guard has a long and proud history of serving this nation in good times and in bad. They've been there for us when we were struck by tornadoes, floods, armed conflicts, and other disasters. And now President Bush wants them to fight another war: the war against illegal immigration. Regardless of which side of the political fence you line up on, the war against illegal immigration will place additional burdens upon members of the Guard. Remember that those who sign up with the Guard have historically done so because they thought they would serve a weekend a month and two weeks a year and be called up for short periods of time to help mitigate the effects of a natural or man-made disaster. The wars in Iraq and Afganistan changed all of that. Many members of the Guard haven't been home for over a year and many come home, settle in for a few months, and are then re-deployed for a second 15 month tour of duty halfway across the world.

Should the Guard's strength be increased along the Mexican border from a few hundred to 6,000 as President Bush has proposed, well over 150,000 Guard troops per year will be deployed to that area for several weeks each. While a deployment in the deserts of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California hardly compare to a deployment in the deserts of Iraq, both take those Guardsmen away from their families and their jobs and increase the burdens being imposed upon those Guardsmen, their families, and their employers. How long can we ask so few to do so much?

I have the world of respect for our armed forces, including the members of the Army National Guard. While the Guard is one of our clients, my respect for the organization and its members runs far deeper than the business we do with them. These are people who sign up in part to provide their families with additional income but primarily because they feel a calling to help their neighbors in the worst of times. They have always done so. They always will continue to do so. And we must do whatever we can to minimize the burdens we impose upon them both in times of peace and in times of war. If we need 6,000 Guardsmen stationed along the border to secure it until the Border Patrol can be strengthened sufficiently, then so be it. But let's resolve to provide those resources to the Border Patrol as quickly as possible so that the men and women in the Army National Guard can return to their family and places of work.