From Draft NOtices, April—June 2011

Legislation Introduced to Limit Selective Service Registration to “National Emergencies”

[The following is compiled from information sent by the Center on Conscience and War, http://centeronconscience.org]

Representative Mike Coffman (R-Colorado) introduced a bill in the House of Representatives in February that would suspend the Selective Service System and draft registration for young men. HR 621, the National Emergency Selective Service Act of 2011, would deactivate SS, except during a national emergency declared by the President. While this leaves a potential loophole for continuing SS, the agency itself sees this bill as a threat, believes it may pass, and therefore is trying to stop it. If it became law, it would retroactively excuse persons who have failed to register with Selective Service.

In a press release from his office on February 11, Coffman said, “The time has come to end the registration requirement and dismantle the Selective Service System.  It’s an outdated program that has cost us well over $700 million in the last 31 years and it is time for it to go.”
Selective Service says HR 621 may be considered as early as May 4 by the House Subcommittee on Military Personnel. If it passes, it could go to the full House Armed Services Committee on May 11. Contact both committees at:

2120 Rayburn House Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20515
Ph. 202-225-4151, fax 202-225-0858

Find committee members here: http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm/members. The bill can be found in its entirety here: http://tinyurl.com/hr621text.

This article is from Draft NOtices, the newsletter of the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (http://www.comdsd.org/)