Original source URL: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h109-4752 109th U.S. Congress (2005-2006) H.R. 4752: Universal National Service Act of 2006 Introduced: Feb 14, 2006 Sponsor: Rep. Charles Rangel [D-NY] Status: Introduced (By Rep. Charles Rangel [D-NY]) This text was automatically converted from PDF format. Formatting glitches are a result of that process. Return to Bill Status | Download PDF | Full Text on THOMAS I 109TH CONGRESS H. R. 4752 2D SESSION To provide for the common defense by requiring all persons in the United States, including women, between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 14, 2006 Mr. RANGEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To provide for the common defense by requiring all persons in the United States, including women, between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the na- tional defense and homeland security, and for other pur- poses. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 4 (a) SHORT TITLE.--This Act may be cited as the 5 ``Universal National Service Act of 2006''. 2 1 (b) TABLE CONTENTS.--The table of contents for OF 2 this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. National service obligation. Sec. 3. Two-year period of national service. Sec. 4. Implementation by the President. Sec. 5. Induction. Sec. 6. Deferments and postponements. Sec. 7. Induction exemptions. Sec. 8. Conscientious objection. Sec. 9. Discharge following national service. Sec. 10. Registration of females under the Military Selective Service Act. Sec. 11. Relation of Act to registration and induction authority of military se- lective service Act. Sec. 12. Definitions. 3 SEC. 2. NATIONAL SERVICE OBLIGATION. 4 (a) OBLIGATION SERVICE.--It is the obligation FOR 5 of every citizen of the United States, and every other per- 6 son residing in the United States, who is between the ages 7 of 18 and 42 to perform a period of national service as 8 prescribed in this Act unless exempted under the provi- 9 sions of this Act. 10 (b) FORM NATIONAL SERVICE.--National service OF 11 under this Act shall be performed either-- 12 (1) as a member of an active or reserve compo- 13 nent of the uniformed services; or 14 (2) in a civilian capacity that, as determined by 15 the President, promotes the national defense, includ- 16 ing national or community service and homeland se- 17 curity. HR 4752 IH 3 1 (c) INDUCTION REQUIREMENTS.--The President 2 shall provide for the induction of persons covered by sub- 3 section (a) to perform national service under this Act. 4 (d) SELECTION MILITARY SERVICE.--Based FOR 5 upon the needs of the uniformed services, the President 6 shall-- 7 (1) determine the number of persons covered by 8 subsection (a) whose service is to be performed as a 9 member of an active or reserve component of the 10 uniformed services; and 11 (2) select the individuals among those persons 12 who are to be inducted for military service under 13 this Act. 14 (e) CIVILIAN SERVICE.--Persons covered by sub- 15 section (a) who are not selected for military service under 16 subsection (d) shall perform their national service obliga- 17 tion under this Act in a civilian capacity pursuant to sub- 18 section (b)(2). 19 SEC. 3. TWO-YEAR PERIOD OF NATIONAL SERVICE. 20 (a) GENERAL RULE.--Except as otherwise provided 21 in this section, the period of national service performed 22 by a person under this Act shall be two years. 23 (b) GROUNDS EXTENSION.--At the discretion of FOR 24 the President, the period of military service for a member HR 4752 IH 4 1 of the uniformed services under this Act may be ex- 2 tended-- 3 (1) with the consent of the member, for the 4 purpose of furnishing hospitalization, medical, or 5 surgical care for injury or illness incurred in line of 6 duty; or 7 (2) for the purpose of requiring the member to 8 compensate for any time lost to training for any 9 cause. 10 (c) EARLY TERMINATION.--The period of national 11 service for a person under this Act shall be terminated 12 before the end of such period under the following cir- 13 cumstances: 14 (1) The voluntary enlistment and active service 15 of the person in an active or reserve component of 16 the uniformed services for a period of at least two 17 years, in which case the period of basic military 18 training and education actually served by the person 19 shall be counted toward the term of enlistment. 20 (2) The admission and service of the person as 21 a cadet or midshipman at the United States Military 22 Academy, the United States Naval Academy, the 23 United States Air Force Academy, the Coast Guard 24 Academy, or the United States Merchant Marine 25 Academy. HR 4752 IH 5 1 (3) The enrollment and service of the person in 2 an officer candidate program, if the person has 3 signed an agreement to accept a Reserve commission 4 in the appropriate service with an obligation to serve 5 on active duty if such a commission is offered upon 6 completion of the program. 7 (4) Such other grounds as the President may 8 establish. 9 SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION BY THE PRESIDENT. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.--The President shall prescribe 11 such regulations as are necessary to carry out this Act. 12 (b) MATTER BE COVERED REGULATIONS.-- TO BY 13 Such regulations shall include specification of the fol- 14 lowing: 15 (1) The types of civilian service that may be 16 performed for a person's national service obligation 17 under this Act. 18 (2) Standards for satisfactory performance of 19 civilian service and of penalties for failure to per- 20 form civilian service satisfactorily. 21 (3) The manner in which persons shall be se- 22 lected for induction under this Act, including the 23 manner in which those selected will be notified of 24 such selection. HR 4752 IH 6 1 (4) All other administrative matters in connec- 2 tion with the induction of persons under this Act 3 and the registration, examination, and classification 4 of such persons. 5 (5) A means to determine questions or claims 6 with respect to inclusion for, or exemption or 7 deferment from induction under this Act, including 8 questions of conscientious objection. 9 (6) Standards for compensation and benefits 10 for persons performing their national service obliga- 11 tion under this Act through civilian service. 12 (7) Such other matters as the President deter- 13 mines necessary to carry out this Act. 14 (c) USE PRIOR ACT.--To the extent determined OF 15 appropriate by the President, the President may use for 16 purposes of this Act the procedures provided in the Mili- 17 tary Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. App. 451 et seq.), 18 including procedures for registration, selection, and induc- 19 tion. 20 SEC. 5. INDUCTION. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.--Every person subject to induction 22 for national service under this Act, except those whose 23 training is deferred or postponed in accordance with this 24 Act, shall be called and inducted by the President for such 25 service at the time and place specified by the President. HR 4752 IH 7 1 (b) AGE LIMITS.--A person may be inducted under 2 this Act only if the person has attained the age of 18 and 3 has not attained the age of 42. 4 (c) VOLUNTARY INDUCTION.--A person subject to in- 5 duction under this Act may volunteer for induction at a 6 time other than the time at which the person is otherwise 7 called for induction. 8 (d) EXAMINATION; CLASSIFICATION.--Every person 9 subject to induction under this Act shall, before induction, 10 be physically and mentally examined and shall be classified 11 as to fitness to perform national service. The President 12 may apply different classification standards for fitness for 13 military service and fitness for civilian service. 14 SEC. 6. DEFERMENTS AND POSTPONEMENTS. 15 (a) HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.--A person who is pur- 16 suing a standard course of study, on a full-time basis, in 17 a secondary school or similar institution of learning shall 18 be entitled to have induction under this Act postponed 19 until the person-- 20 (1) obtains a high school diploma; 21 (2) ceases to pursue satisfactorily such course 22 of study; or 23 (3) attains the age of 20. 24 (b) HARDSHIP DISABILITY.--Deferments from AND 25 national service under this Act may be made for-- HR 4752 IH 8 1 (1) extreme hardship; or 2 (2) physical or mental disability. 3 (c) TRAINING CAPACITY.--The President may post- 4 pone or suspend the induction of persons for military serv- 5 ice under this Act as necessary to limit the number of per- 6 sons receiving basic military training and education to the 7 maximum number that can be adequately trained. 8 (d) TERMINATION.--No deferment or postponement 9 of induction under this Act shall continue after the cause 10 of such deferment or postponement ceases. 11 SEC. 7. INDUCTION EXEMPTIONS. 12 (a) QUALIFICATIONS.--No person may be inducted 13 for military service under this Act unless the person is 14 acceptable to the Secretary concerned for training and 15 meets the same health and physical qualifications applica- 16 ble under section 505 of title 10, United States Code, to 17 persons seeking original enlistment in a regular compo- 18 nent of the Armed Forces. 19 (b) OTHER MILITARY SERVICE.--No person shall be 20 liable for induction under this Act who-- 21 (1) is serving, or has served honorably for at 22 least six months, in any component of the uniformed 23 services on active duty; or 24 (2) is or becomes a cadet or midshipman at the 25 United States Military Academy, the United States HR 4752 IH 9 1 Naval Academy, the United States Air Force Acad- 2 emy, the Coast Guard Academy, the United States 3 Merchant Marine Academy, a midshipman of a Navy 4 accredited State maritime academy, a member of the 5 Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps, or the 6 naval aviation college program, so long as that per- 7 son satisfactorily continues in and completes at least 8 two years training therein. 9 SEC. 8. CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION. 10 (a) CLAIMS CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR.--Noth- AS 11 ing in this Act shall be construed to require a person to 12 be subject to combatant training and service in the uni- 13 formed services, if that person, by reason of sincerely held 14 moral, ethical, or religious beliefs, is conscientiously op- 15 posed to participation in war in any form. 16 (b) ALTERNATIVE NONCOMBATANT CIVILIAN OR 17 SERVICE.--A person who claims exemption from combat- 18 ant training and service under subsection (a) and whose 19 claim is sustained by the local board shall-- 20 (1) be assigned to noncombatant service (as de- 21 fined by the President), if the person is inducted 22 into the uniformed services; or 23 (2) be ordered by the local board, if found to 24 be conscientiously opposed to participation in such 25 noncombatant service, to perform national civilian HR 4752 IH 10 1 service for the period specified in section 3(a) and 2 subject to such regulations as the President may 3 prescribe. 4 SEC. 9. DISCHARGE FOLLOWING NATIONAL SERVICE. 5 (a) DISCHARGE.--Upon completion or termination of 6 the obligation to perform national service under this Act, 7 a person shall be discharged from the uniformed services 8 or from civilian service, as the case may be, and shall not 9 be subject to any further service under this Act. 10 (b) COORDINATION WITH OTHER AUTHORITIES.-- 11 Nothing in this section shall limit or prohibit the call to 12 active service in the uniformed services of any person who 13 is a member of a regular or reserve component of the uni- 14 formed services. 15 SEC. 10. REGISTRATION OF FEMALES UNDER THE MILI- 16 TARY SELECTIVE SERVICE ACT. 17 (a) REGISTRATION REQUIRED.--Section 3(a) of the 18 Military Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. 453(a)) is 19 amended-- 20 (1) by striking ``male'' both places it appears; 21 (2) by inserting ``or herself'' after ``himself''; 22 and 23 (3) by striking ``he'' and inserting ``the per- 24 son''. HR 4752 IH 11 1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.--Section 16(a) of 2 the Military Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. App. 466(a)) 3 is amended by striking ``men'' and inserting ``persons''. 4 SEC. 11. RELATION OF ACT TO REGISTRATION AND INDUC- 5 TION AUTHORITY OF MILITARY SELECTIVE 6 SERVICE ACT. 7 (a) REGISTRATION.--Section 4 of the Military Selec- 8 tive Service Act (50 U.S.C. App. 454) is amended by in- 9 serting after subsection (g) the following new subsection: 10 ``(h) This section does not apply with respect to the 11 induction of persons into the Armed Forces pursuant to 12 the Universal National Service Act of 2006.''. 13 (b) INDUCTION.--Section 17(c) of the Military Selec- 14 tive Service Act (50 U.S.C. App. 467(c)) is amended by 15 striking ``now or hereafter'' and all that follows through 16 the period at the end and inserting ``inducted pursuant 17 to the Universal National Service Act of 2006.''. 18 SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS. 19 In this Act: 20 (1) The term ``military service'' means service 21 performed as a member of an active or reserve com- 22 ponent of the uniformed services. 23 (2) The term ``Secretary concerned'' means the 24 Secretary of Defense with respect to the Army, 25 Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, the Secretary HR 4752 IH 12 1 of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast 2 Guard, the Secretary of Commerce, with respect to 3 matters concerning the National Oceanic and At- 4 mospheric Administration, and the Secretary of 5 Health and Human Services, with respect to matters 6 concerning the Public Health Service. 7 (3) The term ``United States'', when used in a 8 geographical sense, means the several States, the 9 District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is- 10 lands, and Guam. 11 (4) The term ``uniformed services'' means the 12 Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, 13 commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and At- 14 mospheric Administration, and commissioned corps 15 of the Public Health Service. 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