A Journal for Western Man-- Issue XXII-- May 26, 2004
		Liberal Democrats, Not "Neo-Cons," Trying to Bring Back "Draft" Dave Schroeder
			Many of the action items here [at Congress.org] seem to revolve around the rumored return of "the draft", apparently at the behest of a secret Bush administration effort, or the "warhawks", as another soapbox poster put it. In truth, the pair of Universal National Service Act bills, S.89 and H.R.163, have been introduced and sponsored by liberal Democrats. S.89 is sponsored by Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-SC), while the companion H.R.163 was introduced by Congressional Black Caucus cofounder and Harlem representative Charlie Rangel (D-NY), along with 14 other Democrats that read like a Who's Who of the Left in Congress: D Rep Abercrombie, Neil - 1/7/2003 [HI-1] D Rep Brown, Corrine - 1/28/2003 [FL-3] D Rep Christensen, Donna M. - 5/19/2004 [VI] D Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy - 1/28/2003 [MO-1] D Rep Conyers, John, Jr. - 1/7/2003 [MI-14] D Rep Cummings, Elijah E. - 1/28/2003 [MD-7] D Rep Hastings, Alcee L. - 1/28/2003 [FL-23] D Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila - 1/28/2003 [TX-18] D Rep Lewis, John - 1/7/2003 [GA-5] D Rep McDermott, Jim - 1/7/2003 [WA-7] D Rep Moran, James P. - 1/28/2003 [VA-8] D Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes - 1/28/2003 [DC] D Rep Stark, Fortney Pete - 1/7/2003 [CA-13] D Rep Velazquez, Nydia M. - 1/28/2003 [NY-12] The details of these bills are here: H.R.163 | Text | Cosponsors S.89 | Text By contrast, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) has introduced a bill, H.R.487, to repeal the Military Selective Service Act, permanently ending the draft. Cosponsors include two other Republicans and five Democrats. Details: H.R.487 | Text | Cosponsors D Rep Boucher, Rick - 2/12/2003 [VA-9] D Rep DeFazio, Peter A. - 1/29/2003 [OR-4] R Rep Foley, Mark - 3/6/2003 [FL-16] D Rep Frank, Barney - 1/29/2003 [MA-4] D Rep Nadler, Jerrold - 2/7/2003 [NY-8] D Rep Owens, Major R. - 2/11/2003 [NY-11] R Rep Rohrabacher, Dana - 6/23/2003 [CA-46] I'm really surprised reading through all of the other soapbox posts and letters that, from the tone of the messages, everyone seems to assume it's Bush or the "neo-cons" behind some kind of effort to reinstate "the draft", when in reality it's all liberal Democrats that have introduced and sponsored the bills, while almost all Republicans OPPOSE forced service, whether it be civil or military. This is indeed an important issue, but when writing your representatives in Congress and/or the President, keep in mind who is actually supporting these bills. Hint: it's not Bush and the "warhawks"... I hope this information is found useful. Dave Schroeder is a contributor to Congress.org and The Rational Argumentator. He can be contacted at das@doit.wisc.edu. Give feedback on this work at TRA's new forum, which you can access at http://rationalarg.proboards24.com. Visit TRA's Yahoo! Group, the newest means of notification and communication for our subscribers. You can find it at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rationalargumentator. You can sign up by sending an e-mail to rationalargumentator-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Click here to return to the Issue XXII index. Visit TRA's Master Index, a convenient way of navigating throughout the issues of the magazine. Click here.