The Green Party Peace Action Committee supports the repeal of the Military Selective Service Act (the “Draft”). We call upon all who support the end of the Draft to sign the petition below in support of HR 5492.
We, the undersigned, support HR 5492 legislation in the US Congress that would repeal the Military Selective Service Act.
HR 5492 will end draft registration, terminates the Selective Service System, and will overturn penalties on conscientious objectors and others who have refused registration for the draft in the past.
HR 5492 would end presidential authority to order men to register with the Selective Service.
In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the American people demanded an end to the draft. But, in 1980, President Jimmy Carter and the US Congress agreed to reestablish the requirement that young men register. Millions of men are now registered for the potential of a new draft.
Military conscription is a real danger. In the mist of the pandemic, a bipartisan commission appointed by Congress has just recommended that women be required to register for the military draft. For 40 years young men have been forced to register. In the event of a “national security threat” thousands will be forced into the military.
After 18 years of endless wars and the government’s steady march to the right, the likelihood of a national emergency in the near future seems very possible.
Photo credits: Library of Congress Source Collection: U.S. News & World Report magazine photograph collection (Library of Congress) Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print Library of Congress Control Number: 2015647163 Title: [Young man wearing helmet with peace sign, burns hisdraft card at an anti-draft demonstration at the Selective Service System headquarters, Washington, D.C.] Created / Published: [19 March 1970] Insert: Screen capture from The Draft Card Burners Produced by Hilary Harris for the Committee for Nonviolent Action as joint sponsor of the anti-draft demonstrations in New York City, fall 1965 ; Washington Peace Center