IMPORTANT!! MUST READ!!

[Keng]

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/...ua_congressorg

Pending Draft Legislation Targeted for Spring 2005
The Draft will Start in June 2005







There is pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills: S 89 and HR 163) which will time the program's initiation so the draft can begin at early as Spring 2005 -- just after the 2004 presidential election. The 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.

$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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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.

The public has a right to air their opinions about such an important decision.

Please send this on to all the friends, parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and cousins that you know. Let your children know too -- it's their future, and they can be a powerful voice for change!

Please also contact your representatives to ask them why they aren't telling their constituents about these bills -- and contact newspapers and other media outlets to ask them why they're not covering this important story.

[krk230]

The "Draft" or registering for "SSS" is only applicable for United States Citizens, correct? Please say yes...

[socio13]

Im sorry to tell you, read the requirements to sign up for the SS, it does not matter, resident alien or citize, everybody.

[scannergeek]

Inhale.....exhale... ..read this.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/draft.asp

[Keng]

It doesn't mean it will not pass, I am not worry about the time frame. I am worry about the draft passing.

[Admin]

Originally Posted by scannergeek

Inhale.....exhale... ..read this.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/draft.asp

Phew. Snopes is very reliable so that is reassuring.

[Ludranian]

They are not going to start up the draft again. They have no had a draft since Vietnam and are not about to start one for Iraq. However, if we do continue warring around the world then it is more likely that the draft will occur but still extremely unlikely.

[meMyselfAndI]

I will never understand the concept of the draft. How does anyone think that they have a right to force another human being into some sort of combat situation? That is one of the most insane things I have ever heard of. I would *never* show up if I was drafted. I find the draft morally reprehensible.

[RFIbanez]

What if another county bombed yours and threatened your family and friends? What if the USA was going to be invaded? You would stay at home? What if you were around during WWII? You wouldn't do anything about it? I'd be proud to serve my county if it was being threatened.

[Keng]

I wouldn't mind serving in USA military, but if I might die on the battlefield. I rather die for Taiwan.

[Ludranian]

Draft dodging is morally reprehensible. Defending our country and way of life is at the backbone of any nation. To dodge the draft is cowardly, unpatriotic, and shows how small a person truly is. Go live in Canada.

[meMyselfAndI]

Unpatriotic? I will never understand the american worship of this country. Listen to you folks; I bring up a perfectly legitimate point; a government institution should have no right to force me or anyone else into a position to slaughter other human beings or be killed myself. Are you people insane?

[Ludranian]

I do not worship this country. However, I do accept the terms of being a citizen in this country. If they would like me to defend the U.S. then I will do so much like every American should if called upon. And I hate to sound like some redneck but you all accepted these terms when you turned 18 and stuck around. I'm not saying you should leave nor am I saying you should not voice your opinion, but you agreed to this.

[Young Entrepreneur]

And so, my fellow americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
John F. Kennedy, Inaugural address, January 20, 1961

[RFIbanez]

Sure ok maybe its wrong for a county to "make you fight for them" but I'll still go and fight and die if I have to. Freedom isn't free!