| Transcript |
EARL PARMES
JOANNE CHAMBERS
AUDREY FOWLER
KAREN CARTER
be determined by the Attorney General
before Congress acts.
"Number two: We need to have a
better clarification from the defense
department concerning the physiological
and technical limitations, if any, on
women for various functions in the military. We need not to rely on our own personal feelings about women, which are
highly colored by the women we know.
I think we need to have some more scientific information from the military. I
think it ought to be studied right now.
I think we need a short-fused analysis
and we need public hearings in the Congress.
"I think we're going to have to
(register men now). The defense department argues that we can reduce the lead
time that it would take to call up an army
in a national emergency from nine
months to eleven weeks by having registration. Given that our reserve strength
and our National Guard strength is about
one-third of what it was at the peak of
the Vietnam war, I think that's a strong
argument—that is, the reduction in time
that it would take to call up people for
having the registration mechanism on the
books."
U.S. Rep. Charles Stenholm, D-Stamford
"I support the reinstitution of registration. I voted for it last fall when it was
defeated on the floor of the House. I
believe that it's absolutely imperative
to the defense of this country that
we have a readiness should there be a
need for the revision of the draft.
"In the registration, I support the
inclusion of women. My support of the
registration of women hinges from the
standpoint that we've always had women
in the military. They've always been in
supportive roles throughout the history
of this country. My philosophy is that we
should have the same ability to call up
both men and women where the need is
there, but I break very strongly from a
draft of women for front line duty. They
should not be on combat at all."
U.S. Rep. Kent Hance, D-Lubbock (aide)
"He's probably prepared to support
the registration of men although he has
taken a position against reimposing the
draft. He's probably not in favor of
including women in the registration
system although several groups have
announced that if women aren't included,
they'll probably file suit."
U. S. Rep. Tom Loeffler, R-San Antonio
(Ken Walter-aide)
"He has not made a decision on
whether women should be included; he is
in favor of draft registration for men."
U. S. Rep. James Mattox, D-Dallas (Tony
Nagel—aide)
"He's the chairman of the House
Budget Committee's National Defense
Task Force and they're planning to hold
hearings on the 11th and 12th of February. The Congressman is concerned in
giving the young people and women in
particular a chance to express their
position. In addition, he's announced a
series of community hearings in his
district where he's giving those people a
chance to express themselves. I think he
wants to give the women in his district a
chance to speak out on it before he sets
himself on a course."
U. S. Rep. Sam Hall, Jr., D-Marshall (Ken
Black—aide)
"Basically I am not in favor of women
being subject to the draft. However,
before making a final decision on this
matter, I want to see what sort of registration system President Carter proposes
to Congress. At any rate, I am unalterably
opposed to women serving in a combat
capacity. If women are to be drafted, it
must be with the understanding that their
military service be in a strong support
role with equal opportunity for pay and
rank that would accrue to their male
counterparts. Women forces in WWII such
as the Wacs and Waves served their
country magnificently and there is no
question in my mind that this generation
of young women will answer their nation's call."
U. S. Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Houston
"I'm against registration and I'm
against the draft but if there is to be
registration for men, I believe women
have as much of an obligation to the
service of their country as men do, and
it's only fair that they be treated equally."
U.S. Rep. Marvin Leath, D-Waco
Congressman Leath is quoted as having
said that the registration of women would
"waste millions of dollars" and not
achieve "the military strength we need.
No nation in history has ever been able to
successfully use women in combat roles."
U. S. Rep. Joe Wyatt, D-Victoria
Congressman Wyatt is quoted as
having said that he "has no problem with
women registering" and "sees a need for
it." However, he does oppose women
being drafted into the military, according
to his aide.
U. S. Rep. Bill Archer, R-Houston (Bob
Lockhart-aide)
"In the bill that was defeated three or
four months ago, he did vote for registration. His decision on the president's
registration proposal would have to
depend on what went in it. He is not sure
if he would support a draft proposal. It
depends on when it was submitted,
how urgent it was, and what it had
contained in it. He is not willing to
publicly state his position one way or
another until he has all the information.
We do have some interesting facts here
concerning a questionnaire that was sent
out to our constituents six months ago.
The questionnaire contained the question
of how they felt about women being
registered. Of those that responded:
"Women should not register at all —
22.5%, women should be registered for
non-combat positions—53.8%, women
should be registered for combat posi-
tions-22.3%.
U. S. Rep. James Collins, R-Dallas
Collins is a strong supporter for the
revival of the registration system and
believes that both men and women
should register. "I've seen so many
countries where they've done it and it is
very successful. It's very helpful in
character-building." Collins does not
favor drafting women into the military,
but would require a year or so of national
service, such as in hospitals or parks.
Women could still volunteer for the
military, Collins said, but does not favor
using them in combat. "The reason is that
men are still male chauvinists under fire.
They tend to worry about the women. It
makes a poor combat arrangement.
U. S. Rep. Ray Roberts, D-McKinney
Last year Roberts co-sponsored a bill
requiring registration of all persons, men
and women, on their 18th birthday.
U. S. Reps. Henry Gonzales, D-San
Antonio, E. De La Garza, D-Mission, and
James Wright, Jr., D-Fort Worth, did not
respond.
The People
At a downtown intersection, we asked
the following people how they felt about
registration, the draft and the inclusion of
women in the military.
Audrey Fowler: OK. I think they should
have registration for the draft and I think
they should draft the women also and if I
LIZ GUEVARA
PETE PRAMIS
ALGENESHAW
EDWARD TEMPLIN
HOUSTON BREAKTHROUGH
16
FEBRUARY 1980 |
