From Draft NOtices, November - December, 2003
— Rick Jahnkow
Ever since the last draft ended in 1973, proposals to bring back conscription have lacked the support needed to win passage. However, several factors are developing that are adding momentum in Congress for the idea of forcing young people into the military, and the Bush administration may wind up revising its previously stated opposition to reactivating the draft.
A recent news report in the Washington, D.C. newspaper The Hill says that key Democrats in Congress are about to make another push for a military draft "as part of a critical barrage they are preparing to launch against President Bush over the length of troop deployments and the heavy reliance on reservists in Iraq."
One of the key Democrats is Rep. Charles Rangel (NY), who along with Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC) introduced a bill in January that would require that all males and females between the ages of 18 and 26 perform two years of "service." Under the Rangel/Hollings proposal, any draftees that were not needed by the military would be assigned to a civilian job that, "as determined by the President, promotes the national defense, including national or community service and homeland security."