Kucinich Opposes Requiring Draft Registration for Women
The following is a press release from November 7, 2003, by the Kucinich campaign
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Kucinich Opposes Requiring Draft Registration for Women
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 7, 2003
At Wednesday night's Planned Parenthood forum in New Hampshire, John Kerry, Wesley Clark, and Howard Dean supported requiring 18-year-old women to register for the military draft, as 18-year-old men are now required to do. Congressman Kucinich, along with Carol Mosley Braun and John Edwards, opposed expanding mandatory draft registration to include women.
Today Congressman Kucinich released this statement:
"Our nation has conducted a war against Iraq and is currently occupying that nation at a cost thus far of close to 400 American lives and $150 billion dollars. The three candidates who said they support requiring women to register for the draft have each made Iraq a key issue in their campaign and have each committed to keeping U.S. troops in Iraq for an indeterminate amount of time. The Pentagon has just announced plans to send another 85,000 Army and Marine combat forces to Iraq early next year to relieve troops completing one-year tours, and 43,000 National Guard and Reserve support troops have been alerted that they could soon be sent as well. Among those on Capitol Hill who support the occupation, it is a widely held belief that more troops are needed in Iraq.
"Schools in low-income areas (those receiving Title IX funding) are now required to turn students' names, addresses, and telephone listings over to military recruiters. The military is working hard to recruit our young men and women. Given the current climate, the question of a draft is not an academic issue, and therefore the question of expanding the draft to include women becomes an urgent matter for debate.
"Our campaign is reaching out to high schools and colleges across the country to raise the issue of military recruitment and the problems surrounding a possible draft as the situation in Iraq worsens. I am not prepared to accept the loss of a single life for any oil in Iraq or the profits of Halliburton."
For more information: http://www.kucinich.us
For Rep. Kucinich's Schedule: http://www.kucinich.us/schedule.htm.
Contact: David Swanson 202-329-7847 swanson@kucinich.us
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