[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 22931-22932]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               SMART SECURITY AND THE ``BACKDOOR DRAFT''

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I am sad to say that the military draft is 
alive and well in the United States of America. But, this time, it is 
the Bush administration's shameful behind-the-scenes version: a 
``backdoor draft,'' specifically targeting soldiers who have already 
served and poor young men and women from rural areas who

[[Page 22932]]

enlisted because the military helped them pay for a college education 
they would not have been able to get otherwise.
  Since the war in Iraq began, the Bush administration has done 
everything in its power to cajole and deceive soldiers into serving 
longer than they want or longer than they agreed to.
  Depending on members of the Army Reserve and National Guard, who 
almost always serve the country only here at home in the United States, 
to serve in Iraq was just the tip of the iceberg. This administration 
has also started the shameful policy of issuing ``stop loss'' orders, 
which allowed the military to break its contractual obligations to a 
service member in order to keep that soldier in the military for longer 
than he or she has agreed. They have resorted to the shameful policy of 
recruiting the ``ready reserve,'' a group of retired soldiers, who, 
after completing their years of service, agreed to serve their country 
should a national emergency arise.
  I have got news for the President. Our invasion of a country that 
never threatened us, did not have weapons of mass destruction or even a 
weapons of mass destruction program, and did not have links to al 
Qaeda, does not qualify as a national emergency.
  These shameful Bush administration policies all add up to a 
``backdoor draft,'' a means for the administration to dishonestly and 
dishonorably force soldiers who have already served their country to be 
serving now or to force soldiers to serve 6 or even 12 months longer 
than they agreed to. In fact, many soldiers have been manipulated into 
extending their contracts with the Army. They have been warned that if 
they do not reenlist on time, their brigade could be shipped to Iraq or 
Afghanistan.
  Mr. Speaker, at the same time that President Bush and his fellow 
Republicans have pursued an all-too-real ``backdoor draft,'' just this 
week, the House Republican leadership placed on the schedule under the 
suspension calendar a controversial bill to reimplement the draft. The 
suspension calendar, of course, and we all know this, is reserved for 
noncontroversial legislation. The reimplementation of the draft is 
hardly noncontroversial, and surely, it should be subject to hearings 
and expert testimony.
  The administration must assess the military's recruitment and 
retention rates, the military's manpower needs, and the extent to which 
our troops are overextended in the field. The American people deserve 
better than this. Our troops who will still be in Iraq after we leave 
here today should not be left with the message that Congress did not 
have the time to discuss in detail what must be done to help them in 
the field.
  There has to be a better way, Mr. Speaker. A better way than voting 
one way and acting another, especially when American lives are at 
stake. We need new policies that will make America stronger at home and 
more respected around the world. That is why I have introduced H. Con. 
Res. 392, a SMART Security Platform for the 21st Century. SMART stands 
for Sensible Multilateral American Response to Terrorism. We would not 
be in Iraq if we had pursued a SMART Security strategy in the first 
place.
  SMART Security treats war as an absolute last resort. It fights 
terrorism with stronger intelligence and multilateral partnerships, and 
it controls the spread of weapons of mass destruction with aggressive 
diplomacy, strong regional security arrangements, and vigorous 
inspection regimes. SMART Security means respecting our Nation's 
servicemen and women by respecting their service contracts and then 
providing them with the care and the benefits they deserve once they 
have returned home. It does not mean tricking our brave soldiers into 
serving for longer than they expected or agreed to. SMART Security is 
tough, pragmatic, and safe, and it is the right choice to keep America 
truly secure.

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