[PeaceNoWar] UPDATE: MILITARY RECRUITMENT: - A WAY OUT FROM A FALSE WAY IN
Betreff: MILITARY RECRUITMENT: - A WAY OUT FROM A FALSE WAY IN
Von: duckdaotsu
Datum: Thu, 19 May 2005 16:36:00 -0600


http://www.duckdaotsu.org/recruitupdate052005.html
http://duckdaotsu.blogspot.com/2005/05/update-mckinney-and-hr-1815-making.html

KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE
AN UPDATE ON LEGISLATION TO HOLD RECRUITERS ACCOUNTABLE


Several attempts were made to find information about yesterday's discussion and final approval of HR1815. What a wonderful trip down the information highway! So nice to go to our "accessible" website at dot gov and find that, for some reason, the audio would not be broadcast for the actual hearings. The best download I could get was, of course, a PDF on spending to keep the war machine gears grinding up and spitting out human flesh.

A phone call was made to the folks who have our eyes and ears, Center on Conscience and War (NISBCO). I spoke with Theo, now a lobbyist for the Center who acknowledged that "open" hearings can be described as "five chairs were available." (Kinda reminds me of the "40 acres and a mule" or the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868...)


THE GOOD NEWS AND THE BAD NEWS

There WAS discussion of the amendment to the bill, as many of the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee heard from you, the constituent! and brought up some discussion about it. Of course it did not pass. The good news is that Snyder (D-AK) called for a congressional hearing on recruitment deception and there will be follow up in the following weeks and months.

A CALL IS OUT1 for individuals (that are not sent from the Pentagon) who are willing to testify about recruitment claims and are able to back up their testimony. A young man from Arvada, Colorado High School by the name of David McSwane immediately comes to mind (see HOW FAR WILL THE ARMY GO? on the duckdaotsu website or Student Sting Shows Extent of Recruiter's Push-to-Enlist Tactics on duckdaotsu blog).

Another excellent example of verifiable recruitment HELL can be found in an award-winning article by none other than duckdaotsu's dear friend, Becky Oberg. FULL METAL STRAIT JACKET will have you seething and give you a glimpse into the real world of the Army Boot Camp and the tactics used on recruits once they are in and training. You may remember Oberg as the journalist who recorded BRANDON HUGHEY crossing of the Canadian border in The Expatriate. Hughey is expected to attend his immigration hearing later this month, while Jeremy  Hinzman awaits appeal on the decision from the officials at his hearing.

It ain't over folks. Keep pacifist resistance while storming those recruitment offices, questioning the rights of recruiters on your campus, and above all, keep your eyes on the prize.

Thousands of lives depend on it.




1 If you can give testimony or want to contact the Center on Conscience and War about the hearing,
you can reach them at:
Center on Conscience & War
1830 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20009
Ph: 202-483-2220
Fax: 202-483-1246 or
email them at NISBCO

© duckdaotsu media
05.19.05

apologies for any duplication

URGENT ALERT

A WAY OUT FROM A FALSE WAY IN

May 17, 2005

 

On May 3, 2005 the New York Times reported on military recruitment misconduct and impropriety. This is not a new issue. On the GI Rights Hotline, which receives thousands of calls per month, almost every caller talks about recruiter deception. Recruiters have been known to cover up disqualifying medical conditions like asthma, chronic back pains, bipolar disorder and other things in order to fill their monthly quotas. They have also been known to mislead a recruit on what military life is all about and on many occasions recruiters have promised that an individual will never have to go to war. Once the recruit reports for boot camp they realize that they have been misled and find that they have little or no option. In many cases of disqualifying medical conditions, the recruit faces a bad discharge for fraudulent enlistment, even though they told the recruiter the truth.

 

To fix this problem, Representative Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) will offer an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2006 (H.R. 1815).

 

At the time of enlistment, this amendment will require a non-military person of the enlistee’s choosing to be present as a witness of enlistment. If a witness is not present, then the Secretary of the particular branch will not accept the enlistment.

 

Additionally the McKinney amendment will give the enlisted member the right to contract revocation within the first 180 days of enlistment if the member presents a prima facie case of recruitment impropriety. Recruitment impropriety includes “coercion, threats or intimidation’” “misrepresentation of military benefits,” “misrepresentation as to military process, assignments and training, including the likelihood of an assignment exposing an enlistee to combat,” “recommendation to falsify or omit disqualifying conditions,” “falsifying, concealing, omitting, or otherwise failing to disclose the existence of a disqualifying condition” and “recommending, encouraging, or materially assisting a transfer of custody of the enlistee’s minor children for the purpose of meeting enlistment eligibility.”

 

The amendment will also require the Secretary of Defense to include “statistics on the number and types of cases of recruitment improprieties, as well as the rate of disciplinary and prosecutorial actions taken” in the annual report to the Congress.

 

The McKinney amendment is essential to protecting the rights of those who are victimized by the military recruitment system. The Defense Authorization bill and the McKinney amendment will be debated in the House Armed Services committee on Wednesday, May 18th. Thirty-three votes are needed for this amendment to move out of committee for a vote on the House floor.

 

If your member of Congress is on the House Armed Services committee, get in touch their office now and ask them to vote in favor of the McKinney Amendment when its introduced. IF not contact your Member of Congress and ask them to lend their support.

 

To find contact information for your member of Congress visit www.house.gov, or contact the Center on Conscience & War (202-483-2220) if you need help.

 

The list of member on the Armed Services Committee is as follows:

Republicans

Democrats

Duncan Hunter (CA)

Ike Skelton (MO)

Curt Weldon (PA)

John Spratt (SC)

Joel Hefley (CO)

Solomon Ortiz (TX)`

Jim Saxton (NJ)

Lane Evans (IL)

John McHugh (NY)

Gene Taylor (MS)

Terry Everett (AL)

Neil Abercrombie (HI)

Roscoe Bartlett (MD)

Mary Meehan (MA)

Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (CA)

Silvestre Reyes (TX)

Mac Thornberry (TX)

Vic Snyder (TX)

John Hostettler (IN)

Adam Smith (WA)

Walter Jones (NC)

Loretta Sanchez (CA)

Jim Ryun (KS)

Mike McIntyre (NC)

Jim Gibbons (NV)

Ellen Tauscher (CA)

Robin Hayes (NC)

Robert Brady (PA)

Ken Calvert (CA)

Robert Andrews (NJ)

Rob Simmons (CT)

Susan Davis (CA)

Jo Ann Davis (VA)

James Langevin (RI)

W. Todd Akin (MO)

Steve Israel (NY)

J. Randy Forbes (VA)

Rick Larsen (WA)

Jeff Miller (FL)

Jim Cooper (TN)

Joe Wilson (SC)

Jim Marshall (GA)

Frank LoBiondo (NJ)

Kendrick Meek (FL)

Jeb Bradley (NH)

Madeleine Bordallo (GU)

Michael Turner (OH)

Tim Ryan (OH)

John Kline (MN)

Mark Udall (CO)

Candice Miller (MI)

G.K. Butterfield (NC)

Mike Rogers (AL)

Cynthia McKinney (GA)

Trent Franks (AZ)

Dan Boren (OK)

Bill Shuster (PA)

 

Thelma Drake (VA)

 

Joe Schwarz (MI)

 

Cathy McMorris (WA)

 

Michael Conaway (TX)

 

Geoff Davis (KY)

 

 

Center on Conscience & War

1830 Connecticut Ave. NW

Washington, DC 20009

Ph: 202-483-2220

Fax: 202-483-1246

http://www.duckdaotsu.org
http://duckdaotsu.blogspot.com

for info on recruitment scandal and tactics
http://www.duckdaotsu.org/recruit.html  (will be online by 2 pm EDT 05-18-2005)




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