Taken from the Presidents offical website:
President Bush Says No Draft
"No, we're not going -- we don't need the draft. Look, the all-volunteer Army is working. The all-volunteer Army... I know Senator McCain and I agree on this issue for certain, the all-volunteer Army works."
~ President George W. Bush, August 10, 2004
President Bush is committed to keeping participation in the United States Armed Services voluntary. The Presidents cabinet has stated that a draft is not being considered. Recruitment and retention rates remain strong, and the military has not had any problem maintaining a strong force. President Bush is confident in the current state of the military and has assured that Nation that the all-volunteer military force is working well.
President Bush's Administration has Remained Consistent on the Draft
Vice President Cheney says all volunteer force "works extraordinarily well."
"I don't foresee a situation in which we'd want to go back to the draft. We made a decision after Vietnam to go with an all-volunteer force... The all-volunteer force has produced an absolutely remarkable group of men and women in the service. And I think it works. It works extraordinarily well. And I'm a great believer in it... I suppose, at some point down the road we'd have such a national crisis or emergency, but it would have to be on the scale of World War II before I would think that anybody would seriously contemplate the possibility of going back again to the draft. I think what we have works very well." (Vice President Cheney, Oregon City, OR, September, 17, 2004)
Secretary Rumsfeld calls suggestion of Bush initiated draft "nonsense."
When asked if by the Armed Services Committee about initiating the draft, Secretary Rumsfeld replied, "That is absolute nonsense... It's absolutely false that anyone in this administration is considering reinstituting the draft." (Donald Rumsfeld, Senate Armed Services Committee, September 23, 2004)
John Kerry is using the draft to scare young voters and veterans.
During campaign stops, John Kerry has worked to scare voters by suggesting that President Bush will initiate a draft. "If George Bush were to be re-elected, given the way he has gone about this war and given his avoidance of responsibility in North Korea and Iran and other places, is [a draft] possible? I can't tell you." (John Kerry, September 22, 2004)