There is pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills: S 89 and HR 163) which will time the initiation of a military and civilian service draft which will allow the program to begin as early as Spring 2005-just after the 2004 presidential election. The Bush 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.

Some $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 US 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 US 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 US 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.

Background:

Official purpose: A bill 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 language of this bill mandates a national service obligation for every US citizen and permanent resident, aged 18-26. It authorizes the President to establish both the number of people to be selected for military service, and the means of selection. Additionally, the measure requires those not selected specifically for military service to perform their national service obligation in a civilian capacity for at least two years.

S. 89 language permits:

¥ Deferments for education only through high school graduation, or until the age of 20.

¥ Exceptions are made for those with 1) extreme hardship, or 2) physical or mental disability.

¥ Conscientious objectors are defined and directed by the Military Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. 456(j)).

Introduced: January 7, 2003 by Sen. Ernest F. Hollings [SC]. Cosponsors: None.

Status: 1/7/2003 Read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on Armed Services.