Bucks County Herald - July 12, 2007

Patrick Murphy thoughts on Compulsory Service, Impeachment, Term Limits - Part I

Dear Friends,

Good morning. Last week, I had a visit with Patrick Murphy, the eighth districts new, affable and very busy congressman. My mission was to ascertain whether he favored compulsory service? I also asked him about whether he would support term limits? We even approached the likelihood of impeaching President Bush.

A few weeks ago, the compulsory service topic…some refer to it as national service…came up during a chat with one of my army buddies, John Devereux. Like me, Devereux believes that every young person, regardless of gender or status, should serve America for two years after graduating from high school or age 18, which ever occurs first. Each teen could choose either military or a non military service…like the Peace Corp, park system, veteran’s hospitals, and the like.

The National Guard unit in which we served has been deployed first to Bosnia, then to Iraq, and heads to the Sinai Peninsula in January. How do young men and women keep their peacetime jobs with interruptions like this? What kind of stress do their families continuously face?

“There’s a spirit in America that the leaders in Washington need to tap into,” Murphy began, “and the rest of the world needs to see the goodness of America through programs like the Peace Corp and AmeriCorps, not just our military might.”

He spoke glowingly about the Peace Corp. “It receives $333 million of federal funding,” Murphy continued. “Yet the Peace Corp has more than 7,000 volunteers serving in 73 countries around the world.”

Compare that cost to the war in Iraq…$450 billion and nearly 4,000 American deaths.

Is Congressman Murphy in favor of national service?

Yes he does, although he’s quick to add that it will be difficult to convince members of both houses and the administration. He spoke about three problems facing the adoption of national service.

“First, we need to break through the knee jerk reaction,” Murphy said. “Compulsory Service doesn’t mean military service. Second, we have to address its costs. I’m a fiscal conservative and I understand that the war in Iraq has cost $450 billion so far.”

Friends, imagine what $450 billion could do for America at peace. True, national service will be expensive but it would be worth the investment.

“Third, we’d have to tailor national service to harness the talents of our young people,” he said. “Think of how national service will prepare our youth for the future,” Murphy said. “They’ll be more likely to vote…be volunteers for their communities…be better citizens.”

Murphy is finding congressional support. “There are 46 members of the national Service Caucus in the House of Representatives,” he added. But he’s unwilling to predict how soon national service will be addressed?

My friend, Devereux, had another interesting thought. He believes in structuring compulsory service like the National Guard. “I’d have the individual serve one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer until the commitment was satisfied,” Devereux told me. “Or the individual could serve the entire commitment at one time if that was more convenient.

“The remuneration for service would be based on the type of risk involved,” Devereux continued. “Those choosing the military would get paid the most and get the most benefits and enlistment bonuses.”

Meanwhile, you can understand why Murphy’s congressional colleagues pay attention to his views about national service. Murphy is a major supporter of the Peace Corp and AmeriCorps, which attracts young people to become teacher’s assistants and tutors for inner city youth. And, he is the only Iraq war veteran in Congress. (Of the 435 congressmen, 101 are veterans…but only 27 are combat veterans.)

Next week, I’ll report his answers about impeachment and term limits. This congressman is not afraid of speaking up.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith

PS. In my column about NOVA and Bucks County Judge Kenneth Biehn, I incorrectly wrote that he graduated from Duke University and the Duke Law School. I was half right. One of you faithful readers correctly reminded me that Judge Biehn graduated from Lafayette College before heading to Duke for law. Thanks for the help.