[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1812 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1812

To amend the Military Selective Service Act to suspend the registration 
   requirement and the activities of civilian local boards, civilian 
  appeal boards, and similar local agencies of the Selective Service 
System, except during national emergencies, and to require the Director 
of Selective Service to prepare a report regarding the development of a 
   viable standby registration program for use only during national 
                              emergencies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 13, 1999

  Mr. Paul (for himself, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Metcalf, Mr. Clay, Mr. 
   DeFazio, and Mr. Stark) introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Military Selective Service Act to suspend the registration 
   requirement and the activities of civilian local boards, civilian 
  appeal boards, and similar local agencies of the Selective Service 
System, except during national emergencies, and to require the Director 
of Selective Service to prepare a report regarding the development of a 
   viable standby registration program for use only during national 
                              emergencies.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Selective Service Standby Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. RESTRICTION OF REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT TO PERIODS OF NATIONAL 
              EMERGENCIES.

    (a) National Emergency Registration Requirement.--Section 3(a) of 
the Military Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. App. 453(a)) is amended 
by inserting after ``this title,'' the following: ``during any period 
in which a declaration of national emergency is in effect,''.
    (b) Procedure for Declaring National Emergencies.--Section 3 of 
such Act (50 U.S.C. App. 453) is further amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsections:
    ``(c) The President shall have the authority to declare a period of 
national emergency during which the registration requirements of 
subsection (a) shall apply. Subject to subsection (d), the President 
shall provide for the prompt termination of the declaration of national 
emergency upon the termination of the national emergency.
    ``(d) A declaration of national emergency under subsection (c) 
shall terminate upon the expiration of the first 10-day period of 
continuous session of Congress after the date of the declaration unless 
Congress enacts a law before the end of that period ratifying that 
specific declaration. For purposes of this subsection, the continuity 
of a session of Congress is broken only by an adjournment of the 
Congress sine die, and the days on which either House is not in session 
because of an adjournment or recess of more than three days to a day 
certain are excluded in a computation of the 10-day period.''.
    (c) Suspension of Sanctions for Persons Previously Subject to 
Registration.--Section 12 of such Act (50 U.S.C. App. 462) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(h) In addition to the exception provided by subsection (g), a 
person may not be denied a right, privilege, benefit, or employment 
position under Federal law on the grounds that the person failed to 
present himself for and submit to registration under section 3 before 
the effective date of the Selective Service Standby Act of 1999.''.

SEC. 3. SUSPENSION OF ACTIVITIES OF SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM BOARDS.

    Section 17 of the Military Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. App. 
467) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Except during any period in which a declaration of national 
emergency is in effect under section 3--
            ``(1) the President may not appoint a person as a member of 
        a civilian local board, civilian appeal board, or similar local 
        agency of the Selective Service System; and
            ``(2) any such board established under section 10(b)(3) may 
        not meet.''.

SEC. 4. REPORT ON STANDBY REGISTRATION PROGRAM FOR USE DURING NATIONAL 
              EMERGENCIES.

    Not later than 150 days after the effective date of this Act, the 
Director of the Selective Service shall submit to Congress a report 
detailing a standby emergency manpower mobilization program to be used 
by the Selective Service System during periods in which a declaration 
of national emergency is in effect for the registration of persons who 
would be subject to registration under section 3 of the Military 
Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. App. 453) during such a period. The 
report shall include an estimate of the cost to implement and operate 
the standby program and an evaluation of the feasibility of using 
existing and emerging information systems available to the Government 
to improve the effectiveness of any registration requirements.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON USE OF SAVINGS FROM SUSPENSION OF 
              REGISTRATION AND OTHER ACTIVITIES TO SUPPORT VETERANS 
              HEALTH CARE.

    It is the sense of Congress that at least 50 percent of the 
difference between the amount appropriated to carry out the Military 
Selective Service Act for fiscal year 1999 and the amount appropriated 
for such purpose for each of the fiscal years 2000 through 2004 should 
be appropriated to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to support 
expanded health care services for veterans under title 38, United 
States Code.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 30 
days after the date of the enactment of the Act.
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