From: Mermaid . (britannica@hotmail.com)
Date: Fri Mar 22 2002 - 21:38:09 MST
[Casey]ps. I'm curious...did anyone hear the radio news clip where some
representative (I can't remember who) called for the draft to be
reinstated? I can't remember where it was from---most likely
a news report on NPR. Anyone else hear this, or was I hallucinating
again?
[Mermaid]Hallucinating?? You wish!!
<snip>
Jan 19 2002
BILL TO REINSTATE DRAFT IS BEFORE CONGRESS
Bill introduced that would reinstate draft in the US and US territories.
In an act virtually ignored by the mainstream media, Republicans Nick Smith
of Michigan and Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania have introduced a bill intending
to reinstate the draft. The bill, HR 3598, the Universal Military Training
and Service Act of 2001, was introduced on December 20th. As of January
19th, it appears that the only media sources to report on this have been
Independent Media Centers, the anarchist site Infoshop, the Hawaiian
newspaper, Ka Leo O and the technology and culture website kuro5hin.
HR 3598 is currently before the House Committee of Armed Services. The Chair
of the Armed Services Committee is Rep. Bob Stump, R-AZ, and the ranking
member is Ike Skelton, D-MO. This bill would require that men in the US
(including Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam - all territories whose
residents do not have voting rights) receive basic military training and
education as members of the armed services for a period of not less than six
months, but not more than one year, unless exempted. Currently the United
States Census lists 9 million males in this age group. The bill would also
authorize women in that age group to volunteer to receive basic military
training and education.
Young men would be exempt from this service if they have extreme hardships
(what exactly this means is not outlined in the bill and is likely defined
at the convenience of the board) or physical or mental disability. People
already serving in military positions would not be subject to the
specifications of this induction. High school students would have their
induction postponed until they receive their high school diploma, drop out,
are expelled, or turn 20, whichever occurs first.
Men who are conscientious objectors, which requires that they have religious
training and belief that prohibits them from military combat (subject to
approval by a local board), when inducted, would participate in basic
military training and education that does not include any combatant training
component. Those whose conscientious objector claims are rejected by a local
board would be allowed an appeal to an appeal board.
For the full text of this bill, please visit http://thomas.loc.gov and
search for HR3598. In response to expectations that a draft could be
enacted, Maine Draft and Military Counselors has set up a website at
www.abilitymaine.org to provide information about conscientious objection,
the draft, and other military service issues.
<snip>
from: for other links:
http://www.maine.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=1151&group=webcast
Also:
Conscription: A Tradition of Slavery
by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
March 22, 2002
I rise to introduce legislation expressing the sense of Congress that the
United States government should not revive military conscription. Supporters
of conscription have taken advantage of the events of September 11 to renew
efforts to reinstate the military draft. However, reviving the draft may
actually weaken America's military. Furthermore, a military draft violates
the very principles of individual liberty this country was founded upon. It
is no exaggeration to state that military conscription is better suited for
a totalitarian government, such as the recently dethroned Taliban regime,
than a free society.
Since military conscription ended over 30 years ago, voluntary armed
services have successfully fulfilled the military needs of the United
States. The recent success of the military campaign in Afghanistan once
again demonstrates the ability of the volunteer military to respond to
threats to the lives, liberty, and property of the people of the United
States.
A draft weakens the military by introducing tensions and rivalries between
those who volunteer for military service and those who have been
conscripted. This undermines the cohesiveness of military units, which is a
vital element of military effectiveness. Conscripts also are unlikely to
choose the military as a career; thus, a draft will do little to address
problems with retention. With today's high-tech military, retention is the
most important personnel issue and it seems counter-productive to adopt any
policy that will not address this important issue.
If conscription helps promote an effective military, then why did General
Vladisova Putilin, Chief of the Russian General Staff, react to plans to end
the military draft in Russia, by saying "This is the great dream of all
servicemen, when our army will become completely professional...?"
Instead of reinstating a military draft, Congress should make military
service attractive by finally living up to its responsibility to provide
good benefits and pay to members of the armed forces and our nation's
veterans. It is an outrage that American military personnel and veterans are
given a lower priority in the federal budget than spending to benefit
politically powerful special interests. Until this is changed, we will never
have a military which reflects our nation's highest ideals.
Mr. Speaker, the most important reason to oppose reinstatement of a military
draft is that conscription violates the very principles upon which this
country was founded. The basic premise underlying conscription is that the
individual belongs to the state, individual rights are granted by the state,
and therefore politicians can abridge individual rights at will. In
contrast, the philosophy which inspired America's founders, expressed in the
Declaration of Independence, is that individuals possess natural, God-given
rights which cannot be abridged by the government. Forcing people into
military service against their will thus directly contradicts the philosophy
of the Founding Fathers. A military draft also appears to contradict the
constitutional prohibition of involuntary servitude.
During the War of 1812, Daniel Webster eloquently made the case that a
military draft was unconstitutional:
"Where is it written in the Constitution, in what article or section is it
contained, that you may take children from their parents, and parents from
their children, and compel them to fight the battles of any war, in which
the folly or the wickedness of Government may engage it? Under what
concealment has this power lain hidden, which now for the first time comes
forth, with a tremendous and baleful aspect, to trample down and destroy the
dearest rights of personal liberty? Sir, I almost disdain to go to
quotations and references to prove that such an abominable doctrine had no
foundation in the Constitution of the country. It is enough to know that the
instrument was intended as the basis of a free government, and that the
power contended for is incompatible with any notion of personal liberty. An
attempt to maintain this doctrine upon the provisions of the Constitution is
an exercise of perverse ingenuity to extract slavery from the substance of a
free government. It is an attempt to show, by proof and argument, that we
ourselves are subjects of despotism, and that we have a right to chains and
bondage, firmly secured to us and our children, by the provisions of our
government."
Another eloquent opponent of the draft was former President Ronald Reagan
who in a 1979 column on conscription said:
"...it rests on the assumption that your kids belong to the state. If we buy
that assumption then it is for the state – not for parents, the community,
the religious institutions or teachers – to decide who shall have what
values and who shall do what work, when, where and how in our society. That
assumption isn't a new one. The Nazis thought it was a great idea."
President Reagan and Daniel Webster are not the only prominent Americans to
oppose conscription. In fact, throughout American history the draft has been
opposed by Americans from across the political spectrum, from Henry David
Thoreau to Barry Goldwater to Bill Bradley to Jesse Ventura. Organizations
opposed to conscription range from the American Civil Liberties Union to the
United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, and from the
National Taxpayers Union to the Conservative Caucus. Other major figures
opposing conscription include current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan
Greenspan and Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman.
In conclusion, I ask my colleagues to stand up for the long-term military
interests of the United States, individual liberty, and values of the
Declaration of Independence by co-sponsoring my sense of Congress resolution
opposing reinstatement of the military draft.
Ron Paul, M.D., represents the 14th Congressional District of Texas in the
United States House of Representatives.
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