The Ohio National Guard has only 65 percent of the equipment it says it needs. That's actually better than any other state in the country. But this past weekend's tornado in Kansas has some lawmakers worried, including Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown.
"I think that the tornado in Kansas showed us a couple things," Brown said. "One, it showed that this war in Iraq is sapping our resources in terms of dollars and in terms of the National Guard's ability to do what we need to do to respond to natural disasters."
Lakewood Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich agrees. He says the National Guard is being overused in Iraq.
"The National Guard was always a backup, but it was never meant to be the frontline," Kucinich said. "And that's what's happening because we've so depleted our military."
Many lawmakers are pushing to get the National Guard a seat on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. That would give them a say in how their personnel and equipment are deployed.