With the U.S. military more than able to fill its ranks with volunteers and everyone looking for places to cut federal spending, a Republican congressman wants to officially do away with the requirement that 18-year-old males register for a draft that hasn’t happened since the Vietnam War.

 

Representative Mike Coffman of Colorado, who served in both the U.S. Army and Marines Corp, has introduced a bill that would abolish the Selective Service System, arguing that the “outdated program” has cost the government more $700 million over the past 31 years. Coffman insists the change will free up $24 million a year, as well as military personnel currently assigned to handle paperwork for Selective Service.

 

The Selective Service System was briefly disbanded in the mid-1970s after the end of Vietnam. But the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union prompted Washington to reinstate it in 1980. However, the last time an American was actually drafted was 1973.

 

Coffman’s proposal would allow the president to bring back the draft if a national emergency arose.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Coffman: It’s Time to Completely End the Draft (by Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes)