Obama sets up council of governors

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama Monday established a panel of state governors to collaborate with Washington on a variety of potential emergencies, the White House said.

Obama signed an executive order establishing a panel to be known as the Council of Governors, which will be made up of 10 state governors, to be selected by the president to serve two-year terms. Members will review matters involving the National Guard; homeland defense; civil support; and synchronization and integration of state and federal military activities in the United States, the White House said in a statement.

The statement said the White House would seek input from governors and governors' association in deciding which governors to appoint to the council, which will have no more than five governors from the same party.

The secretaries of defense and homeland security will also sit on the council, as will presidential assistants for homeland security and counterterrorism, intergovernmental affairs, the U.S. Northern Command commander, the commandant of the Coast Guard, and the chief of the National Guard Bureau.

The panel was set up under a provision of the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, the White House said.