My testimony to the National Commission on Military Service

C-SPAN video (full hearing and clips of my opening statement and answers to questions)

My written statement

Official transcript

Former Director of Selective Service says it’s time to end draft registration

NPR News: Selective Service registration comes under fire again

I’ve been invited to testify as part of a panel of expert witnesses at a hearing on the the military draft and the Selective Service System, including whether draft registration should be ended entirely or extended to women as well as men, on Thursday morning, 25 April 2019, before the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service in Washington, DC.

These hearings are the most important public discussion of the issue of military conscription in the USA in more than 30 years. So far as I know, the last time a draft resister was invited to tell the Federal government what they thought should be done about the Selective Service System was in 1972 when David Harris was invited to testify before a Senate committee considering an amnesty for some (but not all) draft law violators, an event he described in his book, Our War.

Read on for links to my testimony and more about these hearings.

There will be four panels of invited witnesses over the two days of hearings on Wednesday and Thursday, April 24-25. I’m on the panel for the morning session of testimony and questioning by the members of the Commission from 9 a.m. to noon on Thursday, April 25th. The hearings are being held in the Peikoff Alumni House at Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Ave., N.E., but they have no particular relationship to Gallaudet and I haven’t heard that anyone affiliated in any way with Gallaudet has been invited to testify.

Some time will be available for testimony by members of the public following the prepared statements and questioning of each panel. If you want to testify, be sure to arrive before the start of the session and ask for a ticket to testify at the check-in table when you arrive.

[Testifying before the NCMNPS, 25 April 2019. Diane Randall of FCNL in foreground at left; NCMNPS Chair Brig. Genl. Joe Heck in rear at left. Photo by Jim Fussell.]

• Written testimony and transcript:
  • My written statement
  • Official transcript
    
    
    
• Video archives from C-SPAN:
  
  • Video of full hearing including prepared statements, questioning, and public comments
    
  • Video of my prepared opening statement
    
    
    
  • Questioning by members of the Commission:
    
    1. What if the draft weren’t just for combat? (If the Selective Service System were redefined as not being solely for “combat replacements”, would that change your opinion of whether women should be drafted or required to register for a draft?)
       
       
       
    2. Passive registration? (What if there were no active or ongoing registration, but existing databases were used to create a list of potential draftees if and when a draft was called for?)
       
       
       
    3. E-mail addresses, phone numbers, and enforcement? (Would having e-mail addresses and phone numbers in Selective Service registration records make it possible to enforce a draft even if postal addresses for registrants aren’t accurate or up to date?)
       
       
       
    4. Should women be allowed in combat? (Even on a voluntary basis, should combat positions be open to women?)
       
       
       
    5. Conscientious objectors? (What should be done to protect conscientious objectors? Should there be a box on the Selective Service registration form to say, “I intend to apply for conscientious objector status if I am drafted”?)
       
       
       
    6. Existential threats? (What if we’re in the “Red Dawn” scenario: We’re being attacked from both Canada and Mexico, and not enough people have volunteered to fight. What should we do?)
       
       
       
    7. A screening question? (What if there were a “screening question” for Selective Service registrants to indicate whether they would be willing to serve in a military or non-military capacity?)
       
       
       
    8. Likely compliance by women? (What evidence is there that compliance with a draft by women would be lower than by men?)
       
       
       
    9. Non-military service by young people? (What if Selective Service were expanded to include both military and non-military service? How can we encourage service by young people?)
       
       
       

• My written submissions to the NCMNPS:
  • Written testimony for formal hearings (25 April 2019)
  • Response to request for public comments (19 April 2018)
  • Op-Ed from the San Francisco Chronicle: Dump draft registration, don’t extend it to women
  • Hell, no! We still won’t go! War Resisters League calls for renewed resistance to conscription and militarism
  • Written statement for follow-up conference call with members of the NCMNPS (13 November 2019; re: penalties against nonregistrants)
  • Legislative recommendations to the NCMNPS (23 December 2019; supporting H.R. 5492)
• Audio archives of my statements at previous NCMNPS public events:
  • Denver, CO (19 April 2018)
  • Boston, MA (9 May 2018)
  • Nashua, NH (10 May 2018)
• Radio interviews and podcasts about the draft and draft registration:
  • Courage to Resist podcast (35 minutes, 2018)
  • Love and Revolution Radio (60 minutes, 2018)
  • Talk Nation Radio (30 minutes, 2016)
• Hearing notices and info from the NCMNPS:
  • Questions for panelists (These questions were provided to witnesses a wekk before the hearings, after we had submitted our prepared written testimony. Not all of these questions were asked, and some questions were asked that were not on this list. But the proposed questions are clues to the issues the NCMNPS was considering.)
  • Hearing announcement and witness list
  • Program and profiles of witnesses
  • Register to attend the hearing (free and optional)
  • Federal Register notice and hearing schedule
  • NCMNPS staff memo: Readiness of Selective Service and structure of a future national mobilization
  • NCMNPS staff memo: Expanding Selective Service registration to all Americans
• Panelists:
  • Dr. Mark Coppenger, Professor of Christian Philosophy and Ethics, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
  • Ms. Jude Eden, U.S. Marine Corps Iraq veteran and freelance journalist
  • Mr. Edward Hasbrouck, Editor and publisher, Resisters.info
  • Ms. Ashley McGuire, Senior Fellow, The Catholic Association
  • Ms. Diane Randall, Executive Secretary, Friends Committee on National Legislation
• Other NCMNPS hearings on April 24-25:
  • Agendas and panelists for all hearings
  • C-SPAN video archives of all NCMNPS hearings
  • Testimony of former Selective Service Director Bernard Rostker
  • Testimony of current Selective Service Director Donald Benton
• Additional written submissions to the NCMNPS:
  • Letter from Rep. Peter DeFazio (12 April 2019)
  • Follow-up letter from Rep. Peter DeFazio (20 December 2019; re: H.R. 5492)
  • Letter from Rep. Gwen Moore (27 February 2019)
  • Statement to the NCMNPS from the Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild
  • Interfaith statement to the NCMNPS from the National Council of Churches and other participants in the Washington Interfaith Staff Community
  • Statement to the NCMNPS from Anababtist Churches
  • Written testimony of David Swanson
  • Petition with 12,611 signatures: Pass the new bill to abolish the military draft
  • Statement from CODEPINK submitted to the NCMNPS
  • Statement from Vietnam veterans and draftees Keith Rogers, Willie McTear, and Robert Foust
• Video clips of public comments:
  • Ethan Kurtz
  • Chris Kearns-McCoy (Washington, DC, Meeting of Friends)
  • Arianna Standish (Pacific Yearly Meeting of Friends): Part 1, Part 2
  • Callum Standish (Pacific Yearly Meeting of Friends)
  • Kate Connell (Truth In Recruitment)
  • Paul Jacob (NoDraft.org)
  • Kindra Bradley (Quaker House)
• More about the NCMNPS and these hearings from my Web site, Resisters.info:
  • Leaflet about this hearing: What’s happening with women and Selective Service registration?
  • Women, the draft, and draft registration
  • FAQ: Federal court declares current military draft registration requirement unconstitutional
  • About the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service
  • Records released by the NCMNPS in response to my FOIA requests
  • My analysis of the interim report of the NCMNPS
  • Selective Service System report to the NCMNPS: ‘A modern-day draft, if marketed carefully and cleverly,…’
  • History of draft registration and draft resistance since 1980
  • Prosecutions of draft registration resisters
  • Robert Mueller and me
  • More about the draft, draft registration, and draft resistance from Resisters.info
• News reports and blog posts about the hearings and follow-up activities:
  • Former Director of Selective Service says it’s time to end draft registration (by Edward Hasbrouck, Resisters.info)
    • Former Director of Selective Service Says It’s Time To End Draft Registration (Antiwar.com)
    • Former Selective Service director says it’s time to end draft registration (reprint by Courage To Resist)
  • Drafting Women Could Diminish Combat Effectiveness, Vet Says (by Patricia Kime, Military.com)
  • Stances on all-gender draft differ, some say women’s ‘vocation is motherhood’ (by Elizabeth Howe, ConnectingVets.com)
  • Diane Randall Testifies Before the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service (FCNL)
  • ‘I am part of a generation that has not meaningfully known a country that is at peace.’ (FCNL)
  • Selective Service registration comes under fire again (David Welna, NPR News)
  • NPR: ‘Selective Service Registration Comes Under Fire Again’ (Antiwar.com)
  • Anti-war activists meet with members of the National Commission on Military Service (19 November 2019)

You can submit written comments to the NCMNPS through the end of 2019 using “this formhttps://cybercemetery.unt.edu/archive/inspire2serve/20200826163414/https://www.inspire2serve.gov/content/share-your-thoughts or by e-mail to “info@inspire2serve.gov” (mentioning “Docket No. 05-2018-01” in the subject line of your e-mail message), and sign this petition to end draft registration”.

[This article was first published before the hearing, and has been updated as the video, transcript, and other material was posted.)

[Shaking hands with Brigadier General Joe Heck, Chair of the NCMNPS, at the conclusion of the morning session on 25 April 2019. NCMNPS Chief FOIA Officer and Deputy General Counsel Rachel Rikleen looks on from behind witness table at rear, above my left shoulder. Image from C-SPAN video.]