No Danger of Draft Reinstatement

No Danger of Draft Reinstatement

There have been rumors circulating recently that Congress, in coordination with the Bush Administration, plans to reinstate the draft. I'd like to put the fears of local young adults and parents to rest: neither the Selective Service, nor the White House, nor leaders in Congress plan to reinstate the draft.

Our all-volunteer military is doing a superb job in maintaining security in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the globe. Both the President and the Secretary of Defense have repeatedly stated that there is no need for a draft to supplement our all-volunteer forces.

In a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee on July 7th, Dr. David Chu, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, emphatically refuted rumors that the Bush Administration was considering a reinstatement of the draft. He testified that the military has consistently met their goals for active recruitment and is confident that they will also meet their retainment goals this year.

Since 1980, the Selective Service System (SSS) has been in place to maintain a database of young men between the ages of 18 and 25 should the need for a draft arise. The SSS is administered locally by a Selective Service Local Board, compromised of five volunteers from the community, which would make determinations on deferments or postponements should the draft be reinstated. I have been assured by representatives at the SSS that they have made no recent changes to their organizational structure in preparation for a draft.

Recent rumors allege that the SSS is increasing the number of nation-wide volunteers on its local boards, as well as asking for an increase in funding for the upcoming fiscal year, in preparation for a draft. In fact, the SSS has indicated that it will maintain its volunteer base of 11,000 and will not request an increase in this number. Recent requests from the SSS for volunteers for its local boards are merely to replace those members who have served the limit of their terms.

The concerns that the Administration is increasing funding for the Selective Service System in preparation for a draft are equally unfounded. The fiscal year 2004 budget was reduced from the original request of $28 million to $26.3 million and the budget request for the coming fiscal year has remained unchanged from the request for the previous two years.

Letters to the editor and calls from concerned citizens to my office have referenced H.R. 163, legislation introduced in the House of Representatives last year by Rep. Charles Rangel (D, NY) that would require all U.S. citizens between the ages of 18-26 to perform a two-year period of national service. I can confidently assure you that this legislation is not going anywhere. Rep. Rangel introduced this bill as a political maneuver to further opposition to our military efforts in Iraq. The handful of cosponsors are all Democrats, further proof that the Republican leadership of the House and the Bush Administration do not support the draft reinstatement.

I have not and will not support this legislation. The highly technical nature of the duties performed and equipment used by our men and women in uniform makes a draft all the more unlikely in today's high tech military. The time and expense used to train and equip a draft force could be better used in ensuring that our men and women voluntarily in uniform are adequately equipped.

It is unfortunate that opponents of the war in Iraq chose such a disingenuous method to make their point, needlessly alarming young Americans and their parents in the process. This fear-mongering is irresponsible and undermines the extraordinary work the men and women in the military are doing to protect our country at home and overseas.