Word: hatfields
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...Mark O. Hatfield (R-Ore.), Jimmy Carter's chief foe in the fight to reactivate registration, has urged Reagan to fulfill his promise, providing the president with memoranda describing the simple process of issuing an executive order rescinding the government's right to register young...
...Hatfield's determined drive to block draft registration had been doomed from the start. Although he was supported by an unusual mixture of conservatives and liberals from both parties, the Senate clearly was ready to approve the plan proposed by President Carter last January, just after Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. The House had passed the necessary funding by a vote of 219 to 180. After two days of what turned out to be a six-day filibuster, Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd called for a vote to invoke cloture, limiting further debate to 100 hours. Byrd was surprised that...
Byrd and Georgia Democrat Sam Nunn, a strong supporter of registration, then cleverly employed parliamentary maneuvers to exhaust Hatfield's delaying tactics. At one point, for example, Nunn proposed cutting the bill's funds by an insignificant $10,000, and his amendment passed. That technically changed the bill enough to render inoperative some 75 other amendments Hatfield had introduced in an effort to delay passage...
...After Hatfield admitted defeat, the Senate passed the bill on a 58 to 34 vote. Almost as many Republicans (16) as Democrats (18) voted against it, blurring any campaign issue along party lines. Among the presidential candidates, Ronald Reagan, John Anderson and Ted Kennedy have all opposed the Carter plan. The American Civil Liberties Union said it intends to file a suit against the law, claiming it is unconstitutional since it does not apply equally to women. Carter had asked that women also be registered, but Congress rejected that...
...uncertainties is just how many young men will ignore the law. Hatfield complains that even if there is only a small resistance, like 2% of those required to register, the enforcement problem would be huge. Says he: "It is impossible to prosecute 80,000 noncompliant people." Nunn does not agree, and warns: "We shouldn't let the impression go out that young people are not willing to make the sacrifice to protect the national security of this country...