Wyden, Paul and Lummis introduce bill to abolish the Selective Service

WASHINGTON (KTVZ) -- Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., introduced a bipartisan bill Thursday to end the Selective Service.

The Selective Service runs an annual budget of more than $31 million per year, preparing for a draft that has not occurred since 1973.

“The Selective Service is a long-outdated program that eats up millions of taxpayer dollars and gives us nothing in return,” Wyden said. “Our volunteer military forces are the strongest in the world, and there simply isn’t a need to replicate the same draft that sent 2 million unwilling young men to war 50 years ago. This is a common-sense bill that brings our military into the 20th century and keeps money in American wallets.”

“It has been over 50 years since the draft was last used,” Dr. Paul said. “I’ve long stated that if a war is worth fighting, Congress will vote to declare it and people will volunteer. This outdated government program no longer serves a purpose and should be eliminated permanently.”

The bill is endorsed by Center on Conscience and War, World Beyond War, RootsAction.org, Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild, Resisters.info, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Antiwar.com, International Peace Research Association, American Friends Service Committee, Mennonite Central Committee U.S., War Resisters League, Fellowship of Reconciliation, and Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft. 

The text of the bill is here.