FW: Bills in Congress for Military Draft

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To Fate~Live>"Imani Ingram" <iingram (AT) hunter (DOT) cuny.edu> >To:

<spinningwheel130 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> >FW: Bills in Congress for Military

Draft >Thu, 27 May 2004 19:11:14 -0400 > > > >

> Kenneth Erickson [kerickso (AT) HUNTER (DOT) CUNY.EDU] > Thu 5/27/2004

10:10 AM > HUNTER-L (AT) HUNTER (DOT) LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU > Cc: > Bills in

Congress for Military Draft > > > > I just found the information below,

especially pertinent for draft-age people, > with links for us to send our

positions or queries to our elected officials, on > the following website: >

http://congress.org/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=5834001&content_dir=ua_congressorg

> . > > Ken Erickson, > Political Science > --------------------- > > Pending

Draft Legislation Targeted for Spring 2005 > The Draft will Start in June 2005

> > There is pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills: S 89 and

HR > 163) which will time the program's initiation so the draft can begin at

early > as Spring 2005 -- just after the 2004 presidential election. The

administration > is quietly trying to get these bills passed now, while the

public's attention > is on the elections, so our action on this is needed

immediately. > > $28 million has been added to the 2004 Selective Service

System (SSS) budget to > prepare for a military draft that could start as early

as June 15, 2005. > Selective Service must report to Bush on March 31, 2005 that

the system, which > has lain dormant for decades, is ready for activation.

Please see website: > www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html to view the sss annual

performance plan - > fiscal year 2004. > > The pentagon has quietly begun a

public campaign to fill all 10,350 draft board > positions and 11,070 appeals

board slots nationwide.. Though this is an > unpopular election year topic,

military experts and influential members of > congress are suggesting that if

Rumsfeld's prediction of a "long, hard slog" in > Iraq and Afghanistan [and a

permanent state of war on "terrorism"] proves > accurate, the U.S. may have no

choice but to draft. > > Congress brought twin bills, S. 89 and HR 163 forward

this year, > http://www.hslda.org/legislation/na...s89/default.asp entitled the

Universal > National Service Act of 2003, "to provide for the common defense by

requiring > that all young persons [age 18--26] in the United States, including

women, > perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in

> furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other >

purposes." These active bills currently sit in the committee on armed >

services. > > Dodging the draft will be more difficult than those from the

Vietnam era. > > College and Canada will not be options. In December 2001,

Canada and the U.S. > signed a "smart border declaration," which could be used

to keep would-be draft > dodgers in. Signed by Canada's minister of foreign

affairs, John Manley, and > U.S. Homeland Security director, Tom Ridge, the

declaration involves a 30-point > plan which implements, among other things, a

"pre-clearance agreement" of > people entering and departing each country.

Reforms aimed at making the draft > more equitable along gender and class lines

also eliminates higher education as > a shelter. Underclassmen would only be

able to postpone service until the end > of their current semester. Seniors

would have until the end of the academic > year. > > Even those voters who

currently support US actions abroad may still object to > this move, knowing

their own children or grandchildren will not have a say > about whether to

fight. Not that it should make a difference, but this plan, > among other

things, eliminates higher education as a > shelter and includes women in the

draft. > > The public has a right to air their opinions about such an important

decision. > > Please send this on to all the friends, parents, aunts and uncles,

grandparents, > and cousins that you know. Let your children know too -- it's

their future, and > they can be a powerful voice for change! > > Please also

contact your representatives to ask them why they aren't telling > their

constituents about these bills -- and contact newspapers and other media >

outlets to ask them why they're not covering this important story. > >

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