[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 109 (Thursday, July 7, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1061]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     DeFAZIO AMENDMENT TO H.R. 5485

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                           HON. MIKE COFFMAN

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, July 7, 2016

  Mr. COFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I cosponsored this amendment today because 
I do not support the continuation of the Selective Service System at 
all--for anyone--regardless of gender. This is why I have either 
introduced or cosponsored legislation to do away with it every year 
that I have been here in Congress.
  The United States military has been entirely dependent on an all-
volunteer force since the end of the draft in 1973. Since then we have 
fostered the most professional and elite fighting force in the history 
of this country. We should commit to keeping it that way.
  Since 1973, the United States has engaged multiple operations around 
the world including the Gulf War and later two large-scale operations 
simultaneously. At the height of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi 
Freedom nearly 300,000 American volunteer servicemen and women deployed 
to support these missions. We have done all of this without enacting a 
draft.
  Retired General Carter Ham, Chairman of the Commission on the Future 
of the Army, recently said that ``[A] return to the draft or other 
model of compulsory military service will not yield the quality Army 
the nation requires.''
  And in his testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, 
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said, and I quote, ``the . . . thing 
I'd like to say about the Selective Service System and the draft 
generally is this: We want to pick our people. We don't want people 
forced to serve us.''
  I agree with General Ham and with the Secretary of Defense.
  This is why I ask my esteemed colleagues to join me in supporting 
this amendment to remove funding from this outdated system and route it 
instead toward payment of the national debt.

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