Uncertainty may go
Draft change to strip '67 law
By MONROE DODD Kansan Staff Writer
A selective service lottery system that would lower the period of uncertainty for draft-eligible men appears to be on the way to adoption after an agreement by U.S. Senate committee Tuesday.
The agreement removes the one roadblock to President Nixon's proposed reforms to the 1967 draft law which requires the oldest men in the pool to be drafted first.
Senators, including Edward Kennedy, who stalled the Nixon measure in order to open the law for widespread reform decided to forego sweeping amendments until 1970 on the promise that a complete review of the draft would be undertaken at that time.
Sign stands as untasty reminder of a spoiled plot
The measure, as proposed by Nixon and passed by the House, would eliminate from the 1967 Selective Service law the provision which bars the President from instituting a method of random selection.
Both Nixon and former President Johnson have urged random selection to eliminate draft inequities, but both were stymied by Congress' requirement that the oldest men in the draft pool (ages 18 through 25) be drafted first.
The "oldest first" rule means that eligible males must undergo a seven-year period of uncertainty, making it difficult to plan adequately for education, jobs or marriage.
With Nixon's random selection, or modified lottery system, all birthdates in one year would go into a hat from which they would be picked at random. Draft calls for that year would then be filled from eligible men born on the dates in order of selection.
All 19 year-olds and those whose deferments had expired would be eligible during the year. At the end of that year they would become immune to the draft, except in the case of a national emergency.
"Constructive" 19 year-olds
Uncertainty Apparent
After graduation, college students would go into the draft pool as "constructive" 19 year-olds. Their order of calling would be the same as it would have been had they received notices at age 19.
If a graduate's birthdate had been pulled from the hat first when he was 19, but deferred, he would go first after graduation.
For example, if March 26, the first birthdate selected in the lottery, all 19 year-olds ("constructive" or real) born on that date would be drafted first until their supply was exhausted. Then men born on the second date selected, would be called for induction.
A further lottery would determine the order of selection for men born on the same date. After all potential draftees with the same birthdates had been classified according to the first letter of their last name, the alphabet would be scrambled and letters picked. Men whose names began with the first letter chosen would go first.
With the Nixon system, the period of uncertainty would be reduced from seven years to 12 months and men born in September would not necessarily be less vulnerable than those born in January.
Proposals Planned
Proposals Planned Also included in the President's May 13 proposal were:
- A reassurance that undergraduate deferments remain untouched. Nixon called the exemption of undergraduates a "wise national investment."
- A recommendation that graduate students who receive draft notices be allowed to complete that year of study. Today, graduate students may only finish the semester in which they are enrolled.
14 KANSAN Nov.12 1969
- A review of Selective Service standards, procedures and guidelines by the National Security Council, presented by December 1. Special attention to ge given to the system of occupational deferments.
Photo by T. L. Simmons
This last remnant of the University of Kansas Homecoming festivities was still standing Tuesday in front of Joseph R. Pearson Hall.
Nixon held off presenting his request to Congress to throw out the "oldest first" provision until August 14, when it got an indifferent reception from the House Armed Services Committee Chairman L. Mendel Rivers, (D-S.C.).
Januav 1 Order
When the President announced cancellation of November and December draft calls on September 19, he said that if Congress failed to act on his draft reform legislation, he would issue an executive order by January 1, reducing the number of years of eligibility and beginning a quasi-lottery plan termed the "moving age" system.
In response to the President's threat to by-pass Congress, Rivers opened committee hearings on the bill September 30.
The Armed Services Committee reported the bill favorably to the House floor Oct. 22, after approving it 31-0. With the committee report went the understanding that no other draft proposal was germane to the bill.
Critics of the measure's limited scope ranked under the no-amendments, no-debate rule, even after Rivers promised them a full review of the draft in 1970.
Bill Ok'ed
The bill passed the Full House by a vote of 382-13, and was sent to the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (D-Mont.), said that the plan would not be considered until the next session of Congress.
Mansfield saw that Senate rules, unlike those of the House, could not prevent widespread attempts at draft revision and subsequent slowing of the bill.
Mansfield and other leaders said the Senate's agenda was too full with such matters as the Supreme Court nomination of Clement Haynsworth and tax reform to have time for lengthy debate over the draft proposal.
New Selective Service Act?
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) looked favorably upon a proposed rider to the bill that would move the expiration date on the present draft law from June 30, 1971, to January 1, 1971, forcing consideration of a new Selective Service Act next year.
Yale University President Kingman Brewster proposed the rider in an attempt to speed a
Yale University President Kingman Brewster proposed the rider in an attempt to speed a vote on the Nixon Proposal with
At Shakey's...
where it all happens!
STUDY BREAK SPECIAL
the guarantee of a full draft investigation later.
SMALL PIZZA
(Sausage, Pepperoni, Beef)
PLUS
DRINK
(Beer or soft)
Kennedy and other reformers agreed to a vote on the Nixon bill and to wait until 1970 to rewrite the law after a meeting Tuesday with Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Stennis, D-Miss).
Volunteer Army?
Lurking in the background of this year's debate on lotteries, orders of call and deferments, is the plan to do away with the draft altogether and establish a volunteer army.
Stennis' committee must approve the measure before it can reach the Senate floor. After Senate passage, Nixon will be free to establish his proposals.
The all-volunteer armed force was supported by Nixon during the 1968 campaign and was one of the 43 resolutions on draft reform presented to the House by representatives.
$1.25
10 to 12 P.M.
544 W. 23rd VI 2-2266
The cost of the volunteer force is the major drawback to its enactment, along with the fear that Congress would not have the ability to quickly raise a force in
time of national emergency.
Pentagon estimates place the tab on increased salaries to induce more volunteers at $8 billion—far higher than the more palatable $3 to $5 billion estimated by Nixon in the campaign.
Nixon holds that his May 13 measure is only a "way station" on the road to abolition of the draft, but the volunteer force, while infinitely more acceptable than the draft, appears to be several years in the future.
University Seminar presents
John Wright, Assoc. Prof. HDFL
and selected speakers
Topic: Get Off The Hill
Nov. 12, 7:30-Big Eight Room
Discussion after presentation
University of Kansas Experimental Theatre
presents
The Hostage
by Brenden Behan
November 13-22
Experimental Theatre 8:20 p.m.
Murphy Hall
For Tickets Call: UN 4-3982