Mandatory Draft Bill Snuck In - To Be Debated 6-6-06

[ElsewheresDaughter]

Mandatory Draft Bill
Snuck In - To Be
Debated 6-6-6
6-4-6

On February 14, 2006, Congressman Charles Rangel (Democrat - NY) introduced a bill (Universal National Service Act of 2006 - HR 4752 IH) aiming at drafting everyone - men and women alike - from the ages of 18 to 42 into the military for a minimum period of 2 years.

Or to quote the bill: "To provide for the common defense by requiring all persons in the United States, including women, between the ages of 18 and 42 to 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 House is to convene on June 6 (06/06/06] to debate and possibly adopt this bill, that is, unless a vast public outcry succeeds in derailing this insanity, which you can do by writing a letter of protest to your congress person through

http://www.conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm or http://www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congress-email.html

Phone calls are even better. The numbers of all US Representatives are at:

http://clerk.house.gov/members/index.html


If you question the validity of this bill, go to:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h109-4752 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.4752

[corkhead]

1. That would pull a bunch of chickenhawks away from their American Idol

to start paying attention to what their government is doing in their name.

[SteppingRazor]

2. You really think there's any chance of this passing? n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. No what the OP does not get

is that this si a yearly exercise by Rangel to keep the Republican Bill from being debated

that said, I am all for it... will wake the kids up FAST..

[SteppingRazor]

6. Yeah, I knew this wasn't the first time he'd proposed the bill...

As for the draft itself, IIRC, I believe we've gotten into a heated discussion about this before, so I won't bother again. :evilgrin:

Suffice, to say, I see your point, but I'm not willing to get even more people killed for a quicker end to the war.

[mntleo2]

10. It Passed Before In WWII

...but I suspect since Rangel introduced it, the repigs won't go for it.

You DO know why he introduced this bill in the first place don't you? It was because he said perhaps the call to war would take on more weight with these chicken-hawks if they had to send their own children into war as well as other people's children. I would hope that there were more conditions that would prevent the rich like Bush's daddy did, to somehow spare their own children from what they decided for everyone else. Soon we are facing the possibilities of even more war with Iran...it is important these rah-rah chicken-hawks and yellow elephants understand this time they will pay the same price as everyone else!!!!!


It is time for this debate to begin IMO. If we do not support the draft, then why should we support the war? If people were forced to go there, perhaps we would have less lapel flag pins and words proclaiming how much someone "loves" their country and more action to stop it. I am not so in love with my country right now, I am quite disgusted with it. But this does not mean I do not care. If it were for a good reason I would not hesitate to fight and urge my children to fight. Since these same people are the ones telling people like me we are traitors, I would love a platform to talk about all this and to point out to these hypocrites who claim to care more than I do, that if they are not willing to sacrifice like they expect others to do, then they do not seem to be walking the walk as they talk the talk!

If we are facing perpetual war, I am in favor of this law. As someone who lived through the draft for an unjust war (Viet Nam) I was motivatefd to speak against it since I felt guilty because I was never happier I was female then (women were not drafted), but most women my age stayed silent. If we are truly going to have perpetual war, women and men should face the reality of participating in it ~ and then speaking against it if it is wrong, which it is. If we are going to have perpetual war, Americans young and old need to stop disconnecting with what is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan and get with the program. If the only way is to impact American's lives so much that they sit up and take notice, AMEN ~ so be it.

Then perhaps as well the media will stop talking about missing white women and start talking about the decisions made and still being made now pertaining to these wars. Common Americans need to step up to the plate and actually support soldiers in more than magnetic yellow ribbons on their bumpers and gladly PAY for it with their children and/or their taxes. If they are not so "glad" to pay, then perhaps they need to also get involved in their communities and insist on justice for all so that those injustices do not force just the poorest among us to perpetuate what has caused such wars (including justice for Iraqis and Afghanis). Most of all everybody who hasn't need to get off their asses to vote and vote thoughtfully.

My 2 cents

Cat In Seattle

[Oreo]

3. You're linking to a site called conservativeusa?

Rangel is doing this to wake people up. If there were a draft people wouldn't blow off sending our poorest men and women to an illegal war.

Read this and you'll see where he's coming from:

http://www.columbiaspectator.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/01/29/3e3799b8d23e8


Rangel's Wake-Up Call
The Learning Curve

By Eric Chen

January 29, 2003
Congressman Charles Rangel introduced legislation earlier this month calling for the reinstitution of "compulsory military service or alternate civilian service"--or in other words, the draft. According to the press release accompanying his legislation, the purpose for introducing the bill was two-fold. Rangel believes a draft would help deter unilateral, preemptive American action against Iraq by raising the political cost of war. A draft would also result in a more equitable class representation in the nation's military, which Rangel correctly describes as "Americans making the sacrifice for this great country."

Rangel has stated that his intention is not to bring back the draft. Rather, by using an issue that holds a deep emotional resonance for many Americans, he is addressing the class disparity between the Americans who serve in the military and the civilians responsible for leading them. Rangel's draft proposal has one key difference from its Vietnam War predecessor: in order to equitably spread the cost of military service, it carries no exemptions for students in college or graduate school.

Two developments during the Vietnam War are at the root of Rangel's symbolic protest. The inherently unfair exemptions in the Vietnam draft allowed the college-bound young men of the privileged classes to foist their military duties onto underprivileged Americans. But that wasn't enough. Students at many prestigious universities such as Columbia were so insistent on removing even the specter of military service that they succeeded in causing the removal of long-standing Reserves Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs from their campuses.

As a direct result of the class inequality embraced by Vietnam-era students, it has become acceptable, even fashionable, on many campuses for students to dismiss their citizen's duties and deny their nation-building responsibilities. In fact, elite universities have continued to discourage students from serving in the military, thus increasing the burden on the underprivileged classes.

-MORE-

[AndyTiedye]

5. Must-Have-More-Cannon-Fodder for-More-Wars

I know that's not what Rangel wants, but that is what this bill would do.

Sure, the demostrations might get a little bigger, but that's not going to stop the war.
Neither will near-70% disapproval, or the war would be over already.
They don't care what we think, because they just steal our votes anyway.

[teriyaki jones]

7. I think this is a debate the country NEEDS to have

The real threat of a draft would probably prevent a lot of future misadventures. If everyone had a stake in war, instead of just career military and those without other life choices, things would look very different right now, IMHO.

[Guaranteed]

8. BINGO. As well as help to end current misadventures.

A big portion of our problems is this career military we have right now.

[halobeam]

9. I have two sons, and I agree with you.

The debate has to be forced at this point. The college age voter showed up last election because of that. It needs to be kept up front. War is real, and Rangel is keeping it as real as he can for as many people as he can, out in the front lines, so to speak... as FAR AS HE CAN.

Force the debate. Make things REAL.

[heartofthesiskiyou]

11. I kick AND recommend

I'm surprised this is issue is avoided like it has cooties on DU. No kicks except for mine, and virtually no discussion.

The repukes will run at a sprint from this bill. Rangle with this bill says put your money were your mouth is. In any other conflict the US would have already implemented the draft. It simply is not sustainable to deploy some 350,000 troupes in the field without sending our national guard, our protectors of the states for situations such as Katrina and other national emergencies. It can not be sustained without snatching back into service the reserves that have already retired that already did their service and wishing to get on with their personal lives. Reserves are exactly that reserves, should a national emergency or major war break out and the nation is in dire striates. What we have here is war on the cheap, and not even paying for that, but borrowing on our children's credit card. If the repukes like this war, put your kids up front and center and carry your own weight of your own big months.

Our national guards are being deployed in unprecedented numbers some are on their third and fourth deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. No one should be surprised at all when situations such as Haditha occur when thought of in context we are sending our home security forces, our week end warriors to carry the burden of a nation not willing to pay the bitter price ANY war carries with it.

If you wish to make a responsible decision in this matter it would consider proper management of our armed forces. Our armed forces are broken right NOW. I can only hope that a real emergency doesn't break out between now and when we actually fix this situation. I for one not only support Rangle in this effort, I hope it passes. I won't though. A draft will end this war in weeks or months and the repukes know it. The kids will be back in the street, as they say in Korea, MOSTIK.