Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD)

: Rick Jahnkow; Articles Archive; 01 October 2015; Hits: 748

Draft Registration Bill Defeated in California

From Draft NOtices, October-December 2015

— Rick Jahnkow

More and more cities have begun to pave the way toward economic justice by supporting the nationwide iThe seventh effort by Selective Service to pass legislation that would boost draft registration compliance in California collapsed when the proposal received several crippling amendments, followed by a veto by Governor Brown.

Assembly Bill 82 passed the California Assembly, but in order to get it through the Senate Appropriations Committee and onto the Senate floor, its author, Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, was forced to accept poison pill amendments that would neutralize it.

When AB 82 went to the state senate, it passed by a 40-0 vote. It then went to Governor Brown, who vetoed it on October 9 with the following statement:

    To the Members of the California State Assembly:

    I am returning Assembly Bill 82 without my signature.

This bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to provide men with the option to register with the U.S. Selective Service System when applying for an original driver's license.

In view of the relatively easy ways that young men can register for the U.S. Selective Service System such as registering online, at their high school, or at a local post office, I don't think this new responsibility for the Department of Motor Vehicles is advisable."

: Seth Kershner; Articles Archive; 01 October 2015; Hits: 757

STARBASE: The Military’s Effort to Indoctrinate Children

From Draft NOtices, October-December 2015

— Seth Kershner

The recent release of the 2014 DoD STARBASE annual report provides an opportunity to reflect on this little-known part of the Pentagon’s school militarization program. While the government shutdown in late 2013 left it in a weakened state, starting this year the military plans to extend the reach of STARBASE beyond its primary constituency — fifth-grade students in Title 1 schools — and to march its merry band of “mentors” into middle schools.

Supported by more than $20 million in annual funding from the Pentagon, in FY14 more than 40,000 fifth-grade students participated in DoD STARBASE at 58 locations in 31 states (including Puerto Rico). Students receive five days of instruction. Normally, school districts are only required to pay for the cost of transporting children to the military bases (the majority run by the National Guard) that host the program.

Besides promoting “knowledge and interest” in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math), a “primary goal” of STARBASE, according to the annual report, is to generate more “positive attitudes towards military people” and to stimulate student interest in “STEM careers in the military.”

The program has been part of the national school militarism picture since 1993, when Congress first dedicated funds to support a national roll-out of STARBASE. It was a landmark year for school militarization. In addition to green-lighting STARBASE, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 also created the Troops to Teachers program and the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program, and allowed the high school Junior ROTC to double in size.

: Rick Jahnkow; Articles Archive; 01 July 2015; Hits: 717

Bill Linking California Licenses to Draft Registration Advances

From Draft NOtices, July-September 2015

— Rick Jahnkow

Assembly Bill 82 passed the California Assembly on June 2. The vote was 73-2, which cleared the way for it to move on to the senate side of the state legislature. As of this writing, it was scheduled for a June 30 hearing before the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee. If it passes that committee, it will go to an appropriations committee, which is where the same proposal died six previous times.

The bill states that in order to apply for a license or license renewal, males would have to give their permission for the California Department of Motor Vehicles to automatically register them with the Selective Service System, the federal agency that would conduct any future military draft. The requirement would apply to all male license applicants up to age 26, regardless of their citizenship or residency status.

Opponents of the bill have included groups that advocate on behalf of undocumented immigrants. AB 82 concerns them because one of the federal agencies that SSS has a formal data-sharing relationship with is the U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Department of Homeland Security agency that oversees actions taken against people who are without legal residency. California now issues drivers’ licenses with a special waiver for individuals who cannot prove they are legal residents, and the state licensing law says that their residency information in DMV records cannot be used as a basis for investigating or detaining them. The state, however, would have no legal power to regulate what USCIS might do with information it receives from SSS, including DMV data identifying individuals who are without proof of legal residency.