National Service Act of 2006
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Universal National Service Act of 2006, () sponsored by Rep.
Charles Rangel Charles Bernard Rangel (, ; born June 11, 1930) is an American politician who was a U.S. representative for districts in New York from 1971 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second-longest serving incumbent member of the Ho ...
(D-NY), was introduced into the
U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
on February 14, 2006. On February 23, 2006, it was referred to the House Subcommittee on Military Personnel. The bill was never enacted.


Public debate

Rep. Rangel argued that the bill was necessary since in the case of a mandatory draft members of the U.S. Congress would be much less likely to authorize an unnecessary war if they knew that their own children and family members might be sent to fight it. He was quoted as saying: "There’s no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm’s way". Rangel also argued that bringing back the draft would remedy the social disparity of the burden of military service falling disproportionately on the poor and the minorities. After the Democratic victories in the November 2007 congressional elections, Rangel repeated his call for re-introduction of the draft and for moving forward on the bill, and a more active public discussion of the proposal followed. Most of the reaction in the media, Congress and by the public was negative, although occasional support for the idea was expressed as well. The military leadership expressed opposition to the idea. Many conservative critics charged that the bill on re-introducing the draft was simply a political maneuver by Rangel aimed to underscore the unpopularity of the
Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
. The debate was largely over soon after the incoming Democratic House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
(D-CA) indicated that she was not interested in advancing the bill to reintroduce the draft.Pelosi, Hoyer Say House Won't Consider Resuming Draft.
Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...
. November 20, 2006


See also

*
Universal National Service Act The Universal National Service Act is the name of at least four bills proposed in the United States Congress (in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2013), sponsored by Congressman Charles Rangel of New York, proposing mandatory national service for young ...


References

*{{cite web, accessdate=2008-05-13 , url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-4752 , title=H.R. 4752: Universal National Service Act of 2006 , author=2005-2006 (109th Congress) , publisher=GovTrack.us United States federal defense and national security legislation Proposed legislation of the 109th United States Congress Conscription law Conscription in the United States