To the editor:

Thank you, Marcia Riley, for your excellent letter about the movement afoot in Congress to reinstate the draft.

Take heed which party wants to reinstate the draft. Sen. Ernest Hollings, Democrat from South Carolina, sponsored SB 39, and Charles Rangel, Democrat from New York, sponsored HR 163. Democrat John Kerry promises that, if elected, he will increase military forces by 40,000. Are we supposed to believe that 40,000 young people will volunteer to go into the military just because he wants them to? Hardly. Obviously he supports the draft, he just doesn’t come out and say it. If he admitted it, he would lose the election.

Of all the issues at stake in this election, this could very well be the one that has the greatest impact on the future of our country, yet discussion about the draft is pointedly absent in this campaign season. Make sure you know where your congressional and presidential candidates stand on reinstating the draft before you vote, and, please, don’t vote for the ones that support the return of the draft.

Fran Hopkins,

Lawrence