A.L.A.

Abundant Life Amendment™ Article – 2

Equal Rights For Equal Risk

PART – 1 Upon acceptance of this Article as an Amendment to the Constitution, all military personnel between the ages of 18 and 21 - Active duty, National Guard and Reservist - will upon an oath of service be afforded all rights and privileges of a person 21 years of age; ROTC and academy students that have agreed by an oath to complete a period of service in the military will also qualify. These rights will be recognized by all agencies of the federal government, all states and every manner of business and commerce.

PART – 2 Anyone honorably discharged before reaching the age of 21 will retain all privileges of this Amendment; anyone dishonorably discharged will forfeit all rights and privileges.

PART – 3 Anyone found guilty of creating or using a false I.D., or using an I.D. belonging to another person, will be imprisoned for three (3) years.

PART – 4 Anyone who has qualified and has agreed by an oath to complete a period of service and later refuses (except for acceptable reasons unforseen by them at the time of qualifying) or who willingly causes or creates a disqualifing scenario will be imprisoned in a military prison for three (3) years. No one under the age of 18 will be qualified and no one still in attendance of a High School or equivalent will be allowed to qualify.

PART – 5 No person between the ages of 18 and 21 who is in active military service, a reservist, in ROTC, academy or other type(s) of pre-military preparation, will be compelled to accept the rights granted by this Amendment, or penalties as they would otherwise apply; anyone choosing not to accept these rights will have any appropriate I. D. issued to them noted as: ALA-2 Not Valid.

PART – 6 Anyone denying the rights of this law to any covered by this Law, will be fined $10,000 per violation.

PART – 7 The language of this Article will be deemed superior to any federal laws, laws of the states, military laws and regulations, or parts of the Constitution it may conflict.

PART – 8 The Congress will have the power to enforce by appropriate legislation the provisions of this Article, and will provide appropriate funding to ensure the success of this Article.

PART – 9 The Title of this Amendment will be known as: Abundant Life Amendment - Article Two.

PART – 10 The language of this Article can only be amended by a majority vote of the People via a public referendum.

Friends and Fellow Citizens:

The resented war in Iraq has rekindled some memories of my own past. While I was fortunate to have never been in combat, I did spent three years in the Army in the 60's, enlisting just after my 17th birthday and was discharged shortly after my 20th.

Most of my service time was spent overseas, where I enjoyed all the privileges of adulthood. Upon returning to the States I found myself being still treated as a minor under the law.

Like so many others watching the news about the Iraq War and sharing the sorrow with the families of those who have lost loved ones, for me the sorrow deepens even a little more when they give the age of the fallen, especially those of the teenagers.

During the Viet Nam War era the Constitution was amended to allow 18 year olds the right to vote; unfortunately many gave their life militarily before having the opportunity to exercise that right. Today we are again calling upon many of our best younger citizens to go into harms way, and again there are those who will never experience the full rights of adulthood because they have chosen to serve their country. Two American soldiers walking down any street in Iraq - one 23 and the other 19 - share the same equal rights as targets. Those same two soldiers walking down any street in the U.S. do not share the same equal rights of activity.

While a number of areas of commerce might demonstrate the shortcomings of our current laws, the following scenario may highlight it best: A company rotates back to the U.S. from a combat zone. A few had been lost, a few wounded, but all had experienced the trauma and horror of war. Upon their return they head for town for a little joyful celebration, where by law, some go one way and others are forced to go another; some head to a local establishment to have a party while others are limited to a McDonald’s for a milk shake.

The military prides itself on promoting equality. What better way to recognize that equality than to have equal rights for equal risks?

If after reviewing this proposal you favor it - please petition your elected state and federal officials www.firstgov.gov and let them know of your support of the proposal and of your desire to have it become part of the Constitution – james.

P.S. - For those who may feel this proposal only deals with drinking, please note: I don’t own a bar near a military base, nor have any kind of investments in brewery stocks, or even know anyone in the military who would be effected by this proposal - and I have not had a drink in many years and really don’t care if anyone else drinks or not. But, as it has been too often demonstrated, a roadside bomb in Iraq shows no mercy because of age, and I strongly feel that a 19 year old who has spent a year in Iraq has earned the rights of adulthood and whatever else it entails. I am also quite sure that the number of pre-21 year olds among the more than 30,675 wounded and over 4,170 killed (as of this update) http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/index.html is unfortunately high and their numbers will grow. The preceding numbers do not include the over 600 killed and over 2,485 wounded in Afghanistan.