In a letter to the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the National Governors Association expressed their displeasure with the department’s proposed legislation to Congress to weaken the authority that governors have over the National Guard.

Fifty-three governors from the states and U.S territories signed onto the letter. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders was among the governors to sign onto the letter. The letter explains that this proposal would make it more difficult for governors to respond to crises. Last year, Sanders activated the Arkansas National Guard to help local officials respond to the tornado in Central Arkansas. She also deployed the National Guard to the Southern Border.

Gov. Sanders opposes DOD's proposal to weaken states' powers over National Guard

Washington, D.C. — Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today introduced legislation, the Ban Chinese Communist Party Access to U.S. Military Students Act, to prevent the Department of Defense (DoD) from using Tutor.com. The website provides educational services to DoD service members and their families. Tutor.com is owned by Primavera Capital Group, an investment firm with links to the Chinese Communist Party.

The legislation follows a letter Senator Cotton sent to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, urging him to sever DoD’s contract with Tutor.com. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (New York-21) is introducing companion legislation in the House.

“There is no reason the Pentagon should be paying a Chinese-owned service that collects the data of our service members and their families. There are plenty of American companies that offer tutoring services and aren’t subject to the Chinese government,” said Senator Cotton.

“I am proud to join Senator Cotton in introducing legislation prohibiting the DoD from utilizing Communist Chinese-owned company Tutor.com to educate our service members and their families. We cannot allow Communist China to collect an arsenal of data on our service members and their families that can be weaponized against them, posing a grave and unnecessary threat to America’s national security,” said Congresswoman Stefanik.