You may have noticed me take notice … repeatedly … of an otherwise little-noticed National Commission on Military, National and Public Service (NCMNPS). It was established by Congress in 2017 to look into the issue of extending draft registration to women or let the federal courts end registration for not including women.
While I protested the atavistic practice, loud calls could be heard to bring back military conscription partially or universally … or to impose a year or two of national “service” on all young people when they turn 18 — despite its utter lack of value.
The last day of the year — Dec. 31, 2019 — is your deadline to quickly and easily express your thoughts on the draft here.
Thankfully, as the Commission is finishing its work (making its report in March — don’t forget to share your thoughts!), Rep. Peter DeFazio (D‑Ore.) and Rodney Davis (R‑Ill.) have introduced House Resolution 5492. “To repeal the Military Selective Service Act, and thereby terminate the registration requirements of such Act …”*
“Today, with the introduction of H.R. 5492, the report of the NCMNPS due in March 2020, and Congress likely to be forced by pending legal cases to choose between ending draft registration and trying to expand it to women as well as men,” 1980s draft registration resister Edward Hasbrouck writes at AntiWar.com, “we are closer to ending draft registration than at any time since the requirement for all young men to register with the Selective Service System was reinstated in 1980.”
Speak loudly to the Commission now and let’s carry all the big sticks we can to Congress in the new year with one simple message: Pass H.R. 5492.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
* The legislation would also end what are sometimes lifetime penalties imposed by federal agencies and state governments against those who fail to register.
Draft Links of Note: https://thisiscommonsense.org////2019/01/01/paul-jacob-on-the-draft/
Archive of Posts on the Draft: https://thisiscommonsense.org////category/the-draft/
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1 reply on “Five Days Left!”
Abolish draft registration for women and men.