Attempts to reinstate the draft have recently been receiving a great deal of attention around the country. The legislation that sparked the concern of many young men and women came in the form of a pair of identical bills introduced in the House and Senate on January 7th, 2003. House bill H.R. 163, known as the Universal National Service Act of 2003, was introduced by Representative Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), along with fourteen cosponsors. Senator Hollings (D-SC) was responsible for bringing the bill to the floor of the Senate. In both wings of the Capital, the bill was quickly sent to their respective committees of armed services. They have remained there for over eighteen months; however, the bills can be reintroduced at any time- especially if some new threat to homeland security is to develop. Therefore, it is important not to write this act off as something that does not matter to you. Indeed, it does matter, as you will quickly discover, if you or someone you love is a young person between the ages of 18 and 26 and a United States citizen, or resides in the United States. The introduction of the act states that its reason for existence is: “To provide for the common defense by requiring that all young persons 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.”
The entire text of the bill can be found at the official websites of both House and Senate -www.senate.gov and www.house.gov-. Some important questions are raised when the first few sections of the bill are viewed. Not all of these questions are answered by reading further. They must be answered by you, or whomever you vote for to represent your concerns.
Section (a) OBLIGATION FOR YOUNG PERSONS- It is the obligation of every citizen of the United States, and every other person residing in the United States, who is between the ages of 18 and 26 to perform a period of national service as prescribed in this Act unless exempted under the provisions of this act.
Notice that the terminology is not gender specific, and that this is not an accident, as the act clearly states in its introduction, “including women”. Also note that you do not have to be a US citizen to be obligated to serve. All you have to do is reside in the United States. The next three sections of the bill define “service” and the criteria for fulfilling service requirements.
(b) FORM OF NATIONAL SERVICE- National service under this Act shall be performed either– (1) as a member of an active or reserve component of the uniformed services; or (2) in a civilian capacity that, as determined by the President, promotes the national defense, including national or community service and homeland security.
(c) INDUCTION REQUIREMENTS- The President shall provide for the induction of persons covered by subsection (a) to perform national service under this act.
(d) SELECTION FOR MILITARY SERVICE- based on the needs of uniformed services, the President shall–(1) determine the number of persons covered by subsection (a) whose service is to be performed as a member of an active or reserve component of the uniformed services; and(2) select the individuals among those persons who are to be inducted for military service under this Act.
As can be read above, there are many avenues the President can take to select an individual for service. This is not the first time in our nations history that a draft has either been in place or discussed. There were many ways to avoid being drafted, and some of them will remain valid under the new legislation. Some loopholes that were historically used for children of privileged parents to avoid military service have been addressed. There will no longer be an academic deferment available to college students, unless you are at one of the military academies. Academic deferments will be available to high school students, but the deferment will end when they receive their diploma, or upon reaching twenty years of age, whichever comes first. For those of you who would rather be smokejumpers than paratroopers, conscientious objection is still an option, but it is not quite as easy as saying you would rather be in Montana than Mosul. The President is the party with the power, and that power is covered in section 8 of the bill:
(a) CLAIMS AS CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR- any person selected under this Act for induction into the uniformed services who claims, because of religious training and belief (as defined in section 6(j) of the Military Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. 456 (j) ), exemption from combatant training included as part of that military service and whose claim is sustained under such procedures as the President may prescribe, shall, when inducted, participate in military service that does not include any combatant training component. (b) TRANSFER TO CIVILIAN SERVICE- any such person whose claim is sustained may, at the discretion of the President, be transferred to a national service program for performance of such persons national service obligation under this act.
Even your religion would be under the President’s discretion. Sound the alarm. If this bill were to pass as it is currently written, then an overwhelming responsibility to determine the fates of millions of 18 to 26 year old people would be handed to one individual who is over the age of 35. Even if you have the deepest respect for the current President, this act places unprecedented power within his pen stroke. Keep in mind the many people you know who would be affected by this bill after the current President has vacated the Oval Office. You may or may not be comfortable with George W. Bush deciding “…whose service is to be performed as a member of an active or reserve component of the uniformed services…” You must ask yourself who will wield these powers when it matters, and if they are powers you are willing to yield. What can be done? You can take the advice of Arlo Guthrie, and “…convince 50people a day to walk in, sing a bar of Alice’s Restaurant, and walk out…”, or, you can read up on this bill, and others, and vote.