Men Urged to Comply With Registration Law

The outgoing director of the Selective Service System was in Los Angeles on Friday urging young men to register for military duty in case they are needed in an emergency.

Gil Coronado, who in 1994 was appointed by President Clinton to head the agency, also said he was endorsing a bill that would automatically register eligible men who obtain a California driver’s license.

Coronado emphasized the benefits of complying with the federal law requiring men ages 18 to 25 to register even though the mandatory draft was abolished in 1973.

“What’s really critical is that [if you do not register] you have locked yourself out of many benefits,” he said in an interview at The Times. “You can’t get a student loan, you can’t get a government job, you can’t be a police officer.”

Other benefits, including becoming a U.S. citizen, also are important incentives, he said.

Failure to register could lead to five years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, he said. About 14 million people are registered nationwide, he said.

The Selective Service may be a throwback to the situation the United States faced during World War II or the Vietnam War, but it still serves a valuable purpose, Coronado said.

“You cannot foretell the future,” he said. “It serves as a link to the all-volunteer armed services.”

Coronado said about 90% of eligible men have registered. Still, he worries about the other 10%.

Coronado, a Mexican American who was born and raised in San Antonio, said he wishes that more minorities would see the military as an opportunity and register.

To improve the overall numbers, Coronado is supporting a bill in Sacramento by Assemblyman Mike Briggs (R-Fresno) that would automatically register eligible men who obtain a driver’s license or an identification card. A survey by the Selective Service found that California lags behind many other states in registering eligible men.

In the last year, largely because of Coronado’s efforts, five states--Utah, Georgia, Arkansas, Delaware and Oklahoma--have enacted such laws. And while in Southern California, Coronado planned to lobby lawmakers to support the bill.

The bill, endorsed by, among others, Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, offers a “more efficient way” to reach eligible men, he said. In the past, he has concentrated on visiting high schools in low-income urban neighborhoods across the state.

During an afternoon interview session at the Los Angeles city schools’ TV station, the director admitted that there’s another way to widen the pool of registrants: Allow women to register.

Although federal law currently excludes women, Coronado said he favors changing it.

“I am a strong supporter of women doing exactly what every male does and not having limitations because they’re females,” he said.

Although he leaves office shortly, the 65-year-old Coronado’s campaign to focus on getting minorities to register may continue under the new Bush appointee to head the agency.

A chief candidate under consideration is Alfred Gascon, a Medal of Honor recipient who served under Coronado as the Selective Service’s inspector general.

Men may register at post offices, high schools and through the agency’s Web site: https://www.sss.gov.