Governors Unanimous on Keeping Control of Guard During Peacetime

The nation’s governors ended their annual meeting Tuesday with a unanimous call for keeping peacetime control of National Guard troops with the states.

The message was aimed at Congress and the Reagan Administration, which had been angered by the refusal of some states to send troops to Central America.

The policy statement was backed by the governors who refused to send troops to Honduras because of disagreements with Administration policy in the region and those who allowed their troops to undergo training there.

Sparks Lively Debate

It asserts the governors’ belief that the Constitution makes them commanders-in-chief of the guard during peacetime.

Debate on the control of Air and Army National Guard troops sparked the liveliest exchange among the governors in their concluding business session and followed three days of meetings dominated by talk of ways to improve public schools.

Although several governors cautioned that the vote was not an implicit criticism of Administration policy toward Nicaragua, some governors used the opportunity to attack that policy.

Fears Widened Conflict

Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt said the Administration was trying to use guard troops to help the U.S.-backed rebels oppose the Nicaraguan government from their base in Honduras.

“I believe the requests now coming to governors are part and parcel of a policy that is intended to draw American forces into direct support of the contras and ultimately to a widening of the war in Central America,” he said.