Mandatory draft for boys and girls (ages 18-26) starting June 15, 2005,
is something that everyone should know about. This literally affects
everyone since we all have or know children that will have to go if this
bill passes.
There is pending legislation in the House and Senate (companion bills:
S89 and HR 163) which will time the program's initiation so the draft
can begin as 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. Details and links follow.
This plan, among other things, eliminates higher education as a shelter
and includes women in the draft. Also, crossing into Canada has
already been made very difficult.
Actions:
Please send this on to all the parents and teachers you know, and all
the aunts and uncles, grandparents, godparents. And let your children
know it's their future, and they can be a powerful voice for change!
This legislation is called HR 163 and can be found in detail at this
website:
http://thomas.loc.gov /
Just enter in "HR 163" and click search and will bring up the bill for
you to read. It is less than two pages long.
If this bill passes, it will include all men and all women from ages
18 - 26 in a draft for military action. In addition, college will no
longer be an option for avoiding the draft and they will be signing an
agreement with the Canada which will no longer permit anyone attempting to
dodge the draft to stay within it's borders.
This bill also includes the extension of military service for all those
that are currently active. If you go to the Selective Service web site
and read their 2004 FYI Goals you will see that the reasoning for this
is to increase the size of the military in case of terrorism. This is a
critical piece of legislation, this will affect our undergraduates, our
children and our grandchildren.
Please take the time to write your congressman and let them know how
you feel about this legislation.
http://www.house.gov /
http://www.senate.gov /
Please also write to your representatives and ask them why they aren't
telling their constituents about these bills and write to newspapers
and other media outlets to ask them why they're not covering this
important story. The draft $28 million has been added to the 2004 selective
service system 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
http://www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.htmlto view the Selective Service System 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 permanent state of war
on terrorism) proves accurate, the U.S. may have no choice but to draft.
http://www.hslda.org/legislation/national/2003/s89/defa... >
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.
What to do:
Tell your friends, contact your legislators and ask them to oppose
these bills. Just type "congress" into the Aol search engine and input your
zip code. A list of your reps will pop up with a way to email them
directly. We can't just sit and pretend that by ignoring it, it will go
away. We must voice our concerns and create the world we want to live in
for our children and grandchildren.
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