Charles Rangel: “But, Mr. Speaker, I rise to alert the House that, once again, I have introduced legislation to reinstate the draft and…”

“But, Mr. Speaker, I rise to alert the House that, once again, I have introduced legislation to reinstate the draft and to make it permanent during time of war. It is H.R. 5741. And what this does is to make everyone between the ages of 18 and 42, whether they're men or women, whether they're straight or gay, to have the opportunity to defend this great country whenever the President truly believes that our national security is threatened. During the last few weeks and months, as we have gone through a heat wave in the Northeast, I could not but think of the tens of thousands of Americans that find themselves in the Middle East just hoping and praying that the extent of their inconvenience and suffering was just being in the heat of being back home with their loved ones. And they are so dedicated and there are so few of them that many of them have gone back into combat once, twice, even up to six times. To me, that's asking a whole lot from such a small part of our population.”