[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 21567]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



DEPARTMENTS OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND 
             INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 8, 1999

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2684) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Veteran Affairs and 
     Housing and Urban Development, and for sundry independent 
     agencies, boards, commissions, corporations, and offices for 
     the fiscal year ending September 30, 2000, and for other 
     purposes.

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the 
Cunningham amendment to restore funding for the Selective Service 
System.
  The sole mission of the Selective Service is to support our country's 
military readiness by supplying manpower to the Armed Forces adequate 
to ensure the security of the United States during a time of national 
emergency. The Selective Service is a small agency with a budget of 
less than $25 million. It relies on more than 10,000 volunteers who 
would serve on local, national and civilian review boards during a 
draft.
  Registering for the Selective Service is one of the few requirements 
we place on our young people. It is also one of the few opportunities 
we have to encourage young adults to consider public service. Through 
the response mechanism in the registration process, the Selective 
Service System provides men 18-25 years of age with information about a 
range of ways, military and civilian, to serve their country. These 
messages address all of the armed services, as well as civilian service 
opportunities, including America's Promise and Job Corps.
  At a time when our nation faces recruitment shortages and retention 
problems, it would be unwise for this body to terminate the one agency 
responsible for maintaining an up-to-date list of people that could be 
called upon should we need to return to a draft. Defense Secretary 
Cohen, the National Security Council, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs 
of Staff, and our nation's leading military service organizations 
oppose the elimination of funding for the Selective Service System 
because it could compromise this country's future mobilization 
capability.
  During a time of peace and with a strong economy, it would be very 
easy to abolish the Selective Service System. Who would notice? Many 
consider it out-of-date and unnecessary when we have the strongest 
military force in the world. But it would be a dangerous gamble to 
assume that we will never again need to rely upon the draft. If the 
Selective Service System is terminated and our nation was faced with a 
crisis, it would take more than a year to recreate the System. These 
sorts of delays could be disastrous in a state of emergency and could 
prevent a draft from being fair and equitable.
  Today's Selective Service System is also prepared to conduct a 
special skills draft, such as a draft for health care personnel, if the 
need arises. The ability to enact a health care draft would be critical 
if our nation ever experiences a military conflict involving mass 
casualties from nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. This is just 
one more benefit of a modern Selective Service System that provides an 
economically efficient way to support our manpower needs in a state of 
emergency.
  If Congress eliminated the Selective Service, it would be more costly 
to our nation in the long run to recreate the functions of this agency. 
A GAO study concluded that the costs associated with dissolving the 
Selective Service System and then gearing it back up would amount to 
more than $100 million. A decision so important to our ability as a 
nation to fulfill its constitutional obligations of providing for the 
common defense should be taken up by the Congressional authorizing 
committees, not the Appropriations Committee.
  Mr. Chairman, the House has debated the status of the Selective 
Service several times in the past decade and, each time, a clear 
majority has supported maintaining the Selective Service System. I urge 
my colleagues to continue this commitment to the Selective Service and 
vote for the Cunningham amendment.

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