what's with these 2 bills intro'd by Dems to start a draft?

If you look at the letters in the Soapbox at Congress.org there are at the moment at least 3 concerning S89 and HR163, twin Universal National Service Acts in the House and Senate--and according to this letter, they are both sponsored by Democrats. Meanwhile, a "good" bill, to eliminate the draft, is sponsored by both Rs and Ds and is getting very little notice. What in hell is going on here, anyway? I'm sorry, I'm in the middle of something else and cannot research this properly at the moment but it bears looking into--there must be more here than meets the eye.

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Liberal Democrats, not "neo-cons" trying to bring back "draft"
Republicans introduce bill to repeal Selective Service System, permanently end draft

Many of the action items here seem to revolve around the rumored return of "the draft", apparently at the behest of a secret Bush administration effort, or the "warhawks", as another soapbox poster put it.

In truth, the pair of Universal National Service Act bills, S.89 and H.R.163, have been introduced and sponsored by liberal Democrats. S.89 is sponsored by Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-SC), while the companion H.R.163 was introduced by Congressional Black Caucus cofounder and Harlem representative Charlie Rangel (D-NY), along with 14 other Democrats that read like a Who's Who of the Left in Congress:

D Rep Abercrombie, Neil - 1/7/2003
D Rep Brown, Corrine - 1/28/2003
D Rep Christensen, Donna M. - 5/19/2004
D Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy - 1/28/2003
D Rep Conyers, John, Jr. - 1/7/2003
D Rep Cummings, Elijah E. - 1/28/2003
D Rep Hastings, Alcee L. - 1/28/2003
D Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila - 1/28/2003
D Rep Lewis, John - 1/7/2003
D Rep McDermott, Jim - 1/7/2003
D Rep Moran, James P. - 1/28/2003
D Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes - 1/28/2003
D Rep Stark, Fortney Pete - 1/7/2003
D Rep Velazquez, Nydia M. - 1/28/2003

The details of these bills are here:

H.R.163 | Text | Cosponsors (note: see the letter at Congress.org for the links--ima_sinnic)

S.89 | Text

By contrast, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) has introduced a bill, H.R.487, to repeal the Military Selective Service Act, permanently ending the draft. Cosponsors include two other Republicans and five Democrats.

Details:

H.R.487 | Text | Cosponsors

D Rep Boucher, Rick - 2/12/2003
D Rep DeFazio, Peter A. - 1/29/2003
R Rep Foley, Mark - 3/6/2003
D Rep Frank, Barney - 1/29/2003
D Rep Nadler, Jerrold - 2/7/2003
D Rep Owens, Major R. - 2/11/2003
R Rep Rohrabacher, Dana - 6/23/2003

I'm really surprised reading through all of the other soapbox posts and letters that, from the tone of the messages, everyone seems to assume it's Bush or the "neo-cons" behind some kind of effort to reinstate "the draft", when in reality it's all liberal Democrats that have introduced and sponsored the bills, while almost all Republicans OPPOSE forced service, whether it be civil or military.

This is indeed an important issue, but when writing your representatives in Congress and/or the President, keep in mind who is actually supporting these bills. Hint: it's not Bush and the "warhawks"...

I hope this information is found useful.

Contact: das@doit.wisc.edu

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=5915431&content_dir=ua_congressorg

did intro a draft bill that woudl have all the usual exceptions

These two bills are meant to counter that, as they have NO exceptions... and if we do need a draft, and we just may...

I want UNIVERSAL DRAFT with EVERYBODY Serving.

then it'll be fair. ie) all kids are getting drafted, and so are women.

This bill spefically eliminates the deferments and such that damn near everyone in the Bush administration used to avoid Vietnam, if a draft is reinstated.

This means Congressmen's children, EVERYONE, will go into the grinder. It'll never pass.

This isn't a bad thing, in my opinion. It draws attention to the inherent inequity of a draft.

As a college student these bills scare the shit out of me.

two daughters...