Who sponsored the draft bill?
The Chronicle is really a piece of work. This article on the Democrat-proposed draft is headlined, "GOP tries to quell rumor of draft's return." Not, "Democrat-sponsored bill to impose draft fails," because, while that would be more accurate, it wouldn't make Republicans look bad. Here are some highlights:
Sheryl Hughes of Houston was skeptical but still concerned: Could the e-mailed memo she received about a looming national draft be true? Could Hughes' 20-year-old be facing compulsory military duty as soon as next summer?
"People say it won't happen, but this e-mail talked about bills in Congress right now," said Hughes, a pediatric instructor at a Baylor College of Medicine facility.
Of course, those e-mails didn't mention that some Democrats cooked up this bill.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Tuesday night forced a vote on an obscure bill introduced last year by Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of New York that would have set up a new draft. It was defeated 402-2, with the yes votes coming from Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., and Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif.
Both Rangel, who authored the bill, and DeLay, who brought it to a vote, voted against it — a rarity some longtime members said was unprecedented.
That's because the bill was stupid. Duh!
Democrats also opposed Rangel's bill. And although they didn't comment on DeLay's charges they were behind the e-mails, they criticized the House leader, saying he forced the vote for political gain.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, who originally co-sponsored the legislation, then voted against it Tuesday, said, "This was a protest to say to the president, 'What is your exit strategy? What is your strategy to win the peace? We have none.' "
That was some good thinking, Ms. Jackson Lee. Look, the men and women in the military don't want a draft either. They don't want to work alongside people who don't want to be there, because that would make their jobs harder and more dangerous. So, of course DeLay brought this to a vote. The Republicans didn't start this nonsense and it would be suicide for President Bush to support a draft. Plus, military leaders and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld say a draft is not needed:
"I don't know anyone in the executive branch of the government who believes it would be appropriate or necessary to reinstitute the draft," Mr. Rumsfeld told a Washington gathering of members of the Newspaper Association of America, the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Associated Press.
Newspaper editors - love that!
This vote does bring something else to mind though:
Democrats said U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was trying to avoid protesters Monday when he moved a fund-raiser up by four hours.
But aides to the Sugar Land Republican said the event was moved from noon to 8 a.m. because Congress was in session on Monday. A recess had been expected when the event was set, they said.
[snip]
DeLay spokesman Jonathan Grella said the congressman had to reschedule his event so he could get back to Washington in time for a meeting.
Maybe DeLay had to get back to Washington so he could get things in order to kill the Democrat-sponsored draft bill, with an almost unanimous vote.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/06/04 12:29 PM | Houston Chronicle | Print | Comments (2)
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