{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20141113221517/http://coffman.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/honor-those-who-serve", "Honor those who serve", "2014-11-12", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "CO", "Mike Coffman", "C001077", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "While honoring members of the armed services with special ceremonies on Veterans Day, the nation should also take time to reflect on its decision more than 40 years ago to field an all-volunteer military.\n\t\tIt certainly made sense at the time for war-weary Americans trying to quit the Vietnam conflict. And there's no appetite to revive the draft now, after more than a dozen years of fighting in Afghanistan and with more military \"advisers\" returning to Iraq.\n\t\tThis country has used conscription since its birth, when it was employed on a limited basis to fill militia ranks during the Revolutionary War. The first national drafts occurred during the Civil War, but only about 2 percent of Union troops were draftees, and some prospective conscripts paid others to take their place.\n\t\tPresident Woodrow Wilson took a different approach during World War I, instituting a more aggressive draft when an enlistment goal of a million soldiers fell short by more than 900,000. Some 24 million men registered for the draft in 1918, and almost three million were inducted into the armed services.\n\tAnticipating America's entry into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, creating the first peacetime draft. By the end of the war, nearly 10 million draftees had served. Another 1.5 million American conscripts served in the Korean War, and two million served in Vietnam before President Richard M. Nixon finally fulfilled a campaign promise by ending the draft in 1972. Rep. Charles Rangel (D., N.Y.), who believes Iraq wouldn't have been invaded if President George W. Bush and members of Congress \"thought that their kids . . . would be placed in harm's way,\" has tried since 2006 to get the draft reinstated or to require some public service by all young men and women. His idea has gone nowhere. Meanwhile, in a rare show of bipartisanship, Reps. Peter DeFazio (D., Ore.) and Mike Coffman (R., Colo.) have tried to defund the Selective Service System to save $24 million a year. They question the need for registration if no one is ever drafted. It's a good point. In a time of seemingly perpetual war, mothballing the Selective Service seems at odds with reality. But it would reflect polls consistently showing opposition to the draft. Most people don't seem to care that an all-volunteer military places the burden of service on a minority of Americans. That makes it even more important to make sure that those who serve, or have served, are honored for their sacrifice not just on Veterans Day, but every day.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20141113221517/http://coffman.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/honor-those-who-serve"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.7274040039628744, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}