|
The Selective
Service System has returned to the California State Legislature
for the second year in a row with a proposal to link Selective Service
registration with California driver’s license applications.
AB 1572 (Mike Briggs, R., Fresno) would automatically register California
males between 18 and 26 years; those who do not wish to be registered
must contact Selective Service to have their names withdrawn.
This bill is part of a national campaign to coerce young men
into draft registration. To date, three states have passed, and
24 states are considering, similar legislation. If AB 1572 passes
in California, it will be a major victory for the Selective Service
System.
AB 1572 is scheduled for its first hearing on Monday, April 23.
To make sure your letter is included in the official hearing record,
it should be postmarked no later than Friday, April 13 or faxed
no later than Monday, April 16. Write to: "Assembly Transportation
Committee, Attn: Howard Posner, 1020 N Street, Room 112 Sacramento,
CA 95814." Send a copy to your assembly member, especially
if he or she is a member of the Transportation Committee (see
list below) at: "State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814."
Ask TEN people to join you in sending letters. If it is too late
for you to respond for the April 23 hearing, contact one of the
groups at the bottom of this alert for the current status of AB
1572.
Some suggested points to make (these are just to get you started;
personal and original arguments are the most persuasive):
- Since failure to register is already a federal felony, this
bill sets up a felony trap for young men who ask to be withdrawn
from the Selective Service registry.
- This bill is aimed at low-income people and immigrants: Selective
Service spokesperson Lewis Brodsky told AP in 1999 that "we
suspect, based on the demographics we've seen, that it's high
school dropouts and immigrants" who are not registering.
- This bill requires the state to collude with a federal agency
that has been under bipartisan attack in Congress. California
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tom Campbell as well as Congress
Members Steve Horn (R-Long Beach) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington
Beach) joined Democrats to sponsor a bill in the 106th Congress
to abolish Selective Service and legislation to de-fund the
System was passed by the same Congress, though later the vote
was rescinded.
- The Selective Service System already has easy access to young
men through its taxpayer-funded media, Internet and high-school
campus registration campaigns.
MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
All numbers area code (916); the second number is fax.
John Dutra (D-Fremont) (Chair): 319-2020, -2120
Rod Pacheco (R-Riverside) (Vice Chair): 319-2064, -2164
Pat Bates (R-Laguna Niguel): 319-2073, -2173
Marco Firebaugh (D-Cudahy): 319-2050, -2150
Dean Florez (D-Bakersfield): 319-2030, -2130
Sally Havice (D-Bellflower): 319-2056, -2156
Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Temecula): 319-2066, -2166
Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego): 319-2076, -2176
Jay La Suer (R-La Mesa): 319-2077, -2177
Lynne Leach (R-Walnut Creek): 319-2015, -2115
Tim Leslie (R-Roseville): 319-2004, -2104
Carol Liu (D-Pasadena): 319-2044, -2144
John Longville (D-San Bernardino): 319-2062, -2162
Dennis Mountjoy (R-Arcadia): 319-2059, -2159
George Nakano (D-Torrance): 319-2053, 2153
Jenny Oropeza (D-Carson): 319-2055, -2155
Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto): 319-2021, -2121
Virgina Strom–Martin (D-Santa Rosa): 319-2001, -2101
Juan Vargas (D-National City): 319-2079, 2179
Assembly Transportation Committee phone/fax: 319-2093, -2193
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AB 1572 (Mike Briggs, R-Fresno)
- Requires male applicants for an original or a renewal driver's
license or identification card, who are at least 18 years of
age, but less than 26 years of age, to be registered in compliance
with the requirements of the federal Selective Service act.
- Declares that the submission of an application for a driver's
license, driver's license renewal, or identification card is
a conclusive presumption that the applicant either is registered
with the Selective Service System or is authorizing the department
to forward to the Selective Service System the necessary information
for that registration.
- Requires the California Department of Motor Vehicles to include
on the application a notice to the applicant that his submission
of the application serves as consent to registration with the
Selective Service System. The application shall also include
a notice that if the applicant does not wish to be registered
as required by federal law, he may contact the Selective Service
System, in writing, and request that his name be removed from
the registry. The department shall also include on the application
notice to each applicant that a person who is required to register
with the Selective Service System, but fails to register, is
subject to federal prosecution and is not eligible for certain
state and federal programs and benefits linked to that registration
requirement.
- Requires the Department to forward, in an electronic format,
the necessary personal information of the described applicants
to the Selective Service System.
For more information and updates, contact: Committee
Opposed to Militarism and the Draft, 619-265-1369, or the
Friends Committee on Legislation
of California, 916-443-3734.
|
