[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20864]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   THE APPROPRIATION FOR THE SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM SHOULD NOT BE 
                               REINSTATED

  (Mr. PAUL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAUL. Madam Speaker, later today we will be dealing with the VA 
HUD bill; and I want to compliment the Committee on Appropriations for 
deleting the $24.5 million for the selective service system. There will 
be an attempt to put that money back into the bill. I think that is a 
serious mistake.
  The military has not asked for the selective service to continue. We 
do not need it. It is a serious abuse of civil liberties of all 18- and 
19-year-old to continue this registration. The registration is totally 
unnecessary. This $24.5 million could be better spent on veterans' 
affairs or some other worthy cause, but to put the money back in is a 
serious mistake.
  I would like to remind my conservative colleagues that Ronald Reagan 
had a very strong position on the draft and selective service. He 
agreed that it was a totalitarian notion to conscript young people and 
strongly spoke out against the draft whenever he had the opportunity.
  I also would like to remind my conservative colleagues that if 
somebody came to the House floor and asked that we register all the 
guns of America, there would be a hue and cry about why this would be 
unconstitutional and unfair, and yet they are quite willing to register 
their 18- and 19-year-olds. I do not understand why there is less 
respect given for 18- and 19-year-olds than they give for their own 
guns.
  I strongly urge that we not fund the selective service system today.

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