Saturday, June 05, 2004

Maybe one of you can answer this question for me. I wrote my senators to complain about the twin bills in Congress for reinstating the draft. Now I'm assuming those bills are the doing of Republicans, but I just received the following e-mail from Senator Talent:
Dear Mrs. Alwood:
Thank you for your letter voicing your concerns about a resumption of the draft. I appreciate the time you have taken to share your views with me, and I welcome the opportunity to respond.
There are currently no plans to reinstate the draft. The U.S. military is an entirely volunteer service. Indeed, throughout most of our nation's history, the military has been composed entirely of volunteers. The first peacetime draft in U.S. history began shortly before our nation's entry into World War II and continued for several decades until the creation of an all-volunteer military in 1973.
A volunteer military is desirable for several reasons. As
taxpayers, we spend tens of thousands of dollars training each serviceman or woman. In order to realize a return on that investment, we must recruit soldiers and sailors who plan to make a career of the service. In addition, because of our reliance on sophisticated equipment, this commitment to service is necessary to allow for training and education.
I appreciate the sentiments of your letter. There is no need for a draft and no reason to coerce young people into giving up several years of their lives.
Again, thank you for contacting me. If I may be of further assistance, please don't hesitate to call or write.

If Jim Talent is a maverick within his party, I wish someone would tell me so. Or is it just that the public isn't supposed to fret about these bills until they're already law? Perhaps I have misoverestimated the Republican desire to reinstate the draft. It's puzzling.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home