This THURSDAY April 19th!

+ Public Hearing on the Draft in Denver

+ Deadline for Submitting Online Testimonials

As we have been reporting to you, a federal commission has been formed to address the future of draft registration in the United States and whether the draft should end or be extended.

The press release states "The Commission wants to learn why people serve and why people don’t; the barriers to participation; whether modifications to the selective service system are needed; ways to increase the number of Americans in service; and more." 

The commission is also accepting written testimony online but the deadline is this Thursday!

Let them know what you think!

Public Hearings Have Also Been Scheduled in the Following Cities:

April 19/20, 2018: Denver, CO
May 9/11, 2018: Boston, MA
May 17/18, 2018: Jacksonville, FL
June 26/27, 2018: Iowa City, IA
June 28/29, 2018: Chicago, IL
July 19/20, 2018: Waco, TX
August 16/17, 2018: Memphis, TN
September 19/21, 2018: Los Angeles, CA

*The commission also accepts feedback via a webform here.

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For more background information, read our recent post "Why is the government soliciting feedback on the draft now?"

And if you haven't yet, check out our podcast  . . .

Courage to Resist Podcast: The Future of Draft Registration in the United States

We had draft registration resister Edward Hasbrouck on the Courage to Resist podcast this week to explain what's going on. Edward talks about his own history of going to prison for refusing to register for the draft in 1983, the background on this new federal commission, and addresses liberal arguments in favor of involuntary service. Edward explains:

When you say, "I'm not willing to be drafted", you're saying, "I'm going to make my own choices about which wars we should be fighting", and when you say, "You should submit to the draft", you're saying, "You should let the politicians decide for you."

What's happening right now is that a National Commission … has been appointed to study the question of whether draft registration should be continued, whether it should be expanded to make women, as well as men register for the draft, whether a draft itself should be started, whether there should be some other kind of Compulsory National Service enacted.

The Pentagon would say, and it's true, they don't want a draft. It's not plan A, but it's always been plan B, and it's always been the assumption that if we can't get enough volunteers, if we get in over our head, if we pick a larger fight than we can pursue, we always have that option in our back pocket that, "If not enough people volunteer, we're just going to go go to the draft, go to the benches, and dragoon enough people to fight these wars."

[This] is the first real meaningful opportunity for a national debate about the draft in decades.