(U-WIRE) - The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted on Tuesday to defeat a bill calling for the restoration of the military draft.
By a 402-2 vote, the House shot down HR 163, otherwise known as the Universal National Service Act of 2003. The bill, introduced in January 2003 by Rep. Charles Rangel, (D-NY), would have required all U.S. citizens ages 18 to 25, including women, to serve two years of military or civilian service.
With rumors of a potential conscription swirling on the Internet during the past few weeks, House Republicans sought to quell speculation that President George W. Bush will reinstate the draft to bolster flagging forces in Iraq. The Bush administration has adamantly denied that any plan to reinstitute the draft is in the works.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, (R-Wis)., hoped the lopsided vote convinces naysayers that Bush and Congress have no intention of making military service non-voluntary.
"Opponents of President Bush have tried for months now to spread fear among millions of college students and other young Americans by claiming that they may be drafted to serve in the Armed Forces," Sensenbrenner said in a statement. "Today's House vote will, I hope, put to rest this ill-founded rumor, and send the fear-mongers a message that their shameless and political tactics have failed."
After letting the legislation sit dormant for over a year, the House brought the bill to vote under suspended rules late Tuesday. The chamber debated the measure for 40 minutes before taking the vote.
Despite authoring the bill, Rangel voted against the legislation, saying the suspended rules debate did not give the issue the discussion it deserves. "There's been no hearing, no expert testimony, we haven't heard from the public," Rangel press secretary Emile Milne said. "[Suspended rules hearings] are supposed to be for non-controversial issues, like naming post offices."
Jerilyn Goodman, spokesperson for Rep. Tammy Baldwin, (D-Wis)., questioned the timing of the vote.
"The process by which this was brought to the floor, with [Republicans] knowing full well that it was going to fail, clearly demonstrates that they are trying to quash rumors before the election that the draft might be reinstated," Goodman said.
But Bush has been steadfast in saying there is no need for a draft, either before or after the election.
"We will not have a draft so long as I'm the president of the United States," Bush said while in Iowa earlier this week, saying that among other deficiencies, a draft cannot provide specialized forces.
One group particularly vocal about the possibility of a draft has been the non-partisan youth voter registration organization Rock the Vote.
Jay Strell, communications director for Rock the Vote, said the youth organization is not propagating rumors of the draft, but is simply trying to open a dialogue about it with young people. He described the hastily scheduled House vote as "absurd" and said both major party candidates have skirted an issue that potentially affects millions of college students.
"The fact of the matter is neither candidate is talking about this," Strell said. "The remarkable thing about the debate last week was that with all the talk about Iraq and Iran and North Korea, nobody mentioned the draft."
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