Rangel's Military Draft Bill Defeated
Republicans killed Charlie Rangel's draft bill today. Not that it had a snowball's chance in h*ll of passing, but they wanted to try and prove to voters that Bush will do no such thing.
Apples and oranges. No one suggested Bush would support Rangel's bill. Killing Rangel's bill has zero effect on whether Bush will decide, if reelected, to introduce a new draft bill. As Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) said today:
Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, countered that Bush's Iraq policies have so strained U.S. forces, that a draft was possible no matter how unpopular it would be. "Guess what, we're running out of troops ... Let's not be astounded that what follows is a draft. The only problem is that you can't announce it until after the election," Conyers said."
The notion that Republicans oppose a draft while Democrats support it is false. It's not a Democrat/Republican issue. After 9/11, Republicans Nick Smith (MI) and Curt Weldon (PA) introduced the "Universal Military Training and Service Act of 2001", H.R. 3598, in the House of Representatives. Like Rangel's bill (H.R. 183)and its Senate counterpart (S. 89) which were introduced on January 7, 2003, it was referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
As we reported here, the bill called for a re-activation of the draft and was covered by the media.
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