Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico told attendees at this week’s National Guard Association of the United States conference that he speaks for all governors when he calls the Congressional move to allow the President to summon the Guard without consulting state officials a “power grab.” Last month, all state governors and Puerto Rico’s top official sent a letter to House and Senate leaders urging rejection of the House non-consultation provision, but it appears the plea fell on deaf ears (see above). Richardson went on to criticize the fact that one in five Guardsmen has no health coverage at home, saying that Guardsmen “deserve a square deal in Washington.”
A U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber flew from Europe across the Middle East to the Persian Gulf on July 25 in a 32-hour flight, as conflicts continued to roil the area with U.S. troops coming under attack in Iraq and Syria on July 25 and July 26, U.S. officials told…