Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows that I tried joining the military when I was 18, and that I have nothing but respect, support, and gratitude towards our soldiers. That said, I also do not see the need to dilute the ranks of these fine men and women with spineless bastards, which unfortunately make up the majority of the people who would never, ever consider joining the military voluntarily. As a result of the respect and support, I find it necessary that we take the basic measures to prevent such dilution by making sure there is no conscription or draft.
However, it looks like Ol' Charlie Rangel is back at it. You may or may not recall his antics last year with trying to stir up bad morale on the homefront in the war by trying to decieve us into believing there was a need for a draft or compulsory military service, and then his lackeys from various propaganda outlets began declaring that Bush and the Republicans were pushing for this legislation. As a reminder, I will state that both of the bills from last session are from last session, and are at this point merely historical in significance. Every sponsor was a liberal Democrat (I have the data on my laptop, and if need be I will post it later, but my power cord is melting which makes it dangerous to run), and there was roughly 17 or so congressional supporters, as well as one (now retired) Senator who introduced similar legislation in the Senate but gathered no sponsors.
This session, Charlie has come back with a similar, possibly identical, bill. This bill is numered H. R. 2723. Be aware that this bill is in no way a reflection of either the needs of the war effort or the desires of the Pentagon or the White House.
The Sponsor: Rep Rangel, Charles B. [D-NY-15] (introduced 5/26/2005)
The Co-sponsor: Rep Stark, Fortney Pete [D-CA-13] - 7/12/2005
The introduction:
"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."Not exactly a bill that anyone in their right mind is going to support, right? Meanwhile we have two bills that are worth a look in the House, both of which are still in their infancy as bills. I hope they go somewhere. The first that I will bring up is that of Rep. Major R. Owens, and is not as good of a bill as the second of the anti-conscription bills, but would be a step in the right direction. It is known as H. R. 1495. Rep. Owens' bill is problematic though in that it fails to completely eliminate the Selective Service, which creates a drain upon the budget by not eliminating the Selective Service in its entirety, but removing all of its apparatus by which it must operate if called upon.
The Sponsor: Rep Owens, Major R. [D-NY-11] (introduced 4/6/2005)
The introduction:
"To amend the Military Selective Service Act to terminate the registration requirement and the activities of civilian local boards, civilian appeal boards, and similar local agencies of the Selective Service System, and for other purposes."This is a step in the right direction, because it defuses the constant fearmongering that the draft or conscription might be forthcoming any time soon. However, enter the bill of Rep. Ron Paul, who is my personal favorite congressman, having been responsible for the "Get the US out of the UN" bill, and who is known to be a strong fiscal conservative and constitutionalist. Rep. Paul's bill is numbered as H. R. 2455. This bill accomplishes the same ends in actual functionality as Rep. Owens' bill, but instead of adding new complexities upon old laws, it follows Rep. Paul's modus operandi of instead
removing the offending legislature entirely. Which is to say in this case that H. R. 2455 would completely eliminate the Selective Service as a whole rather than leaving fragmented bits of it in place serving no discernable purpose, and also leaves no question as to the result of the bill.
The Sponsor: Rep Paul, Ron [R-TX-14] (introduced 5/18/2005)
First Co-sponsor: Rep Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI-2] - 6/9/2005
Second Co-sponsor: Rep McKinney, Cynthia A. [D-GA-4] - 5/24/2005
The Opening:
"A BILL
To repeal the Military Selective Service Act."The bill then proceeds to state in simple terms that it repeals the Military Selective Service Act and then describes in simple (albeit legal, meaning word-here, word-there modifications to existing laws) terms the other modifications that are necessary to fill any existing gaps that would need filling in the event of the elimination of the Military Selective Service Act.
I would love to see Rep. Paul's bill succeed. Naturally this has garnered no media attention that I know of, but I recommend that if you agree you raise attention in your area and ask your congressman why he has not signed on the bill. Or if you oppose it, I would love to know why.
All bill information and party information taken from publicly accessible servers at http://thomas.loc.gov/ and http://clerk.house.gov. 
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