Birth of a Bill

After several months of speculation, testimony, hearings, and general uncertainty, the Senate Armed Services Committee finally has a draft bill that it can work over. This bill, approved by the Preparedness Sub-Committee, goes a long way toward meeting the Defense Department's objective of true Universal Military Service, but it has some reservations that will probably cause the Department, in future hearings, to ask for revision.

The Administration had requested blanket authority to draft eighteen-year-olds, but the bill as it stands now could interfere seriously with this program. In deference to the mothers of present and prospective eighteen-year-olds, who seem to constitute a politically influential group, the sub-committee's bill directs local draft boards to take all "available" men in the nineteen-to-twenty-six pool before moving into the eighteens. And to deal with the transition period for the country's colleges, the new bill provides that 75,000 men, chosen on the basis of nationwide tests, will be sent back for more education after four months of basic training.

There are subtle dangers in both of these provisions. The Defense Department is basically afraid that either Congress or local draft boards will claim the power to decide who should be deferred and who "available." This would bring back much of the inconsistency and uncertainty of the present Selective Service law, and would make difficult a real Universal Training program of the sort advocated by President Conant. When the Armed Services Committee takes up the new bill, it should watch out for political intrusions by the mothers of America or anyone else. The important consideration is to get a law that builds up the armed forces in the most equitable possible way.