Official "National Commission on Selective Service" appointed by
President and Congress plans a series of public hearings across the US.First public hearing in Harrisburg, PA, next Friday, Feb. 23rd, 11
a.m.-1
p.m. -- please spread the word to anyone opposed to the draft and
draft
registration who might be able to make it to the hearing.
More hearings in all regions of the US to be scheduled.
Written comments being accepted through April 19th (Patriot's Day).
More info and links:
https://hasbrouck.org/blog/archives/002321.html=====
*Public hearing and written comments on draft registration*
For the first time in decades, a Federal commission is holding
open-mike
public hearings throughout the USA (starting next Friday, 23 February
2018, in Harrisburg, PA) and taking written testimony (through 19
April
2018, Patriot's Day) on whether draft registration should be ended or
extended to women as well as men; whether there should be a draft of
people with medical or other special skills regardless of age or
gender;
whether a draft would be "feasible" (it wouldn't, because so many
people
haven't registered with the Selective Service System, have moved
without
notifying the SSS, and/or would resist if drafted); and related
issues.
Despite some problems, this is by far your best and most open
opportunity
in decades to tell the Federal government to end draft registration.
In late 2015, Commander-In-Chief Obama ordered all military
assignments
opened to women. That order undercut, and probably eliminated, the
legal
argument that had been used since 1980 to justify requiring only men,
but
not women, to register for the draft.
That gave members of Congress three options, none of which most of
them
wanted to take responsibility for, in the run-up to the 2016
elections:
1. Do nothing and wait for courts to invalidate the requirement for
men to
register for the draft;
2. Repeal the requirement for men to register, and abolish the
Selective
Service System (and risk being attacked as peaceniks); or
3. Extend the requirement to register for the draft to women as well
as
men
(and risk being attacked by both feminists and sexists).
After elaborate bi-partisan machinations, Congress chose Door Number
One
("Do Nothing"). Perhaps members of Congress thought that would allow
them
to point the finger of "blame" at the courts, and away from
themselves, if
draft registration was ended. More likely they just wanted to punt
this
political hot potato past the 2016 elections into the Clinton or
Trump
Administration.
To provide further political cover for delaying its decision, Congress
voted in late 2016 to establish a National Commission on Military,
National, and Public Service "to conduct a review of the military
selective service process (commonly referred to as 'the draft')." The
Commission is required to solicit and consider public comments, and to
report back to the President and Congress with its recommendations by
March 2020 (at which time its recommendations can either be ignored,
used,
or abused to score points in 2020 election campaigns).
That Commission has now been appointed and held its first public
meeting
on 18 January 2018.
Today the Commission published:
1. A notice in the Federal Register soliciting written comments (by a
Web
form or by e-mail to "
national.commission.on.service.info@mail.mil",
mentioning "Docket No. 05-2018-01" in the subject) though 19 April
2018;
and
2. An announcement on the Commission's Web site of a first public
hearing,
from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. next Friday, 23 February 2018, at the
Harrisburg
Area Community College, Midtown Trade and Technology Center, Midtown
2,
Room 206, 1500 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg, PA.
Pass the word to any of your contacts who might be able to make it
to
Harrisburg that day.
It's unclear how the Commission's hearings will be conducted. So far
as I
can tell from the announcement it appears that at least the first
hearing
will be a first-come, first-served, open microphone event, although I
have
no idea how much time each speaker will be allowed.
The law establishing the Commission requires that:
"The Commission shall conduct hearings on the recommendations it is
taking
under consideration. Any such hearing, except a hearing in which
classified information is to be considered, shall be open to the
public.
Any hearing open to the public shall be announced on a Federal website
at
least 14 days in advance. For all hearings open to the public, the
Commission shall release an agenda and a listing of materials relevant
to
the topics to be discussed."
The Commission's first planned hearing in Harrisburg, PA, on 23
February
2018, was announced on the Commission's Insprire2Serve.gov Web site
on
February 16th, only seven days in advance. The Commisison appears to
be in
flagrant violation of the statutory requirement for 14 days' notice,
and
the hearing in Harrisburg, if it is held on February 23rd, will be
unlawful. As of a week before the planned hearing, no agenda has
been
released.
Members of the Commission have said it plans to hold public hearings
in
each of the nine US Census regions over the next two years, but none
of
the other dates and locations have been announced yet. Stay tuned!
Peace,
Edward Hasbrouck
------- End of forwarded message -------
--------------------
Draft Registration and Draft Resistance:
http://www.resisters.infoHealth Care Workers and the Draft:
http://www.MedicalDraft.infoEdward Hasbrouck
edward@hasbrouck.orghttp://hasbrouck.org+1-415-824-0214---
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