John McCain
Speech
Livonia, MI 01/12/08
TRANSCRIPT:
QUESTIONER: ". . . congressmen have brought up before, a draft, do you believe in it? . . . do you think it's right for the US government to kind of push young people . . . to join something that maybe we believe in the cause but maybe we don't believe that a draft should be allowed . . . ?"
JOHN MCCAIN: ". . . I thought one of the great injustices . . . one of the greatest injustices of the Vietnam war was that the poorest people of our society served and the wealthiest didn't. I thought that was a terrible injustice because wealthy people could avoid the draft. But, from a more practical standpoint, we now have the best-trained, most professional, most capable military in our history and it takes a long time to train 'em. That's why we enlist 'em for four years. And so it doesn't lend itself to a short-time situation. And the third thing is the military is better than it's ever been. These all-volunteer, young men and women are the very best of America [applause] and the best that's served. So why would we want to go back to a system that doesn't cause us to have the efficiency and professionalism and skills that the present-day, all-volunteer force has? But it's gotta be bigger. My friends, we have put a strain on the guard and reserve that everybody in this room knows about. I'll betcha everyone in this room knows someone who has served in Iraq or Afghanistan or their families. We've asked these guard people to go back and back and back. We've got to have a bigger Army and Marine Corps . . . We've got to ease this burden on the Guard and Reserve. I would be very reluctant to [enact a draft] for all of those reasons. I also want to encourage more young Americans to serve. I really do. . . I think obviously service in the military is of the most importance."
LABEL: JM MI 1-12 (GR#57) EGHA-Clip B
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