Breaking News -- Americans Could Be Pressed Into Mandatory Community Service

AMERICANS COULD BE PRESSED INTO MANDATORY COMMUNITY SERVICE

NewsWithViews.com
Posted: June 30, 2004
10:35 AM Eastern

The Universal National Service Act of 2003 sitting in this 108th Congress isn't getting much attention in the media, but has many Americans very concerned about what it will mean if signed into law by President Bush. In the Senate, S89 (Senate Bill), sponsored by Ernest Hollings, (D-SC) reads (search): To provide for the common defense by requiring that all young persons in the United States, including women, perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes.

The House of Representatives has a 'sister' bill, HR 163 (House Resolution), sponsored by Charlie Rangel, (D-NY) (search) which contains the same language. Both bills will make it mandatory for women to serve in the military as well as men; the age window for induction is 18-26.

This legislation has angered many Americans for a number of reasons. Milly Sundquist of Houston Texas is spitting mad. "How dare this government continue with further attempts to destroy the family unit by pressing women into mandatory military service! My daughter will turn 23 next year and is engaged to be married. She's extremely upset that this government could force her into the military and send her to someplace like the Middle East to be raped or beheaded by people who care nothing for human life or dignity."

Jim Williams, a dairy farmer in the mid-West has two sons, one currently serving in the Air Force. The youngest, now 21, is an integral part of the family farm operation. While Williams maintains his youngest son would be the first to sign up to protect America if attacked, such as was the case with Pearl Harbor, this proposed legislation is dangerous to liberty. He resents the federal government thinking they can just snatch his son off the farm and press him into some sort of "Nazi brown shirt" community service for homeland security.

Lauren Beecham, a paralegal studying for her law degree in NY, majored in world history and says Americans don't fully appreciate the danger behind this type of legislation. "This government thinks they can press free citizens into involuntary servitude for 20-30 hours per week in support of security for the Motherland. Americans don't understand how clever the communists are in their quest for global domination because they don't study history. Community service - especially forced community service- is rooted in communist doctrine." Ms. Beecham went on to state that this legislation would not withstand a Thirteenth Amendment challenge to the U.S. Constitution.

Section 1 in the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution states: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.