Push for civilian reserves echoes previous efforts

President Bush's proposal in his State of the Union address Tuesday to create a Civilian Reserve Corps would relaunch his administration's little-publicized attempt last year to create a volunteer corps to augment U.S. reconstruction and stabilization efforts in Iraq.

Bush's proposal had several senior lawmakers scratching their heads, especially those who have met repeatedly with the president to discuss his revised plans for Iraq. "It caught me a little bit by surprise," said Sen. John Warner, R-Va., who until recently chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Warner said he would likely support such a program, which would give "older rascals like me" the opportunity to "get out and do something."

Civilian reserves, which would operate much like the military's reserves, would help "ease the burden on the armed forces" by creating a corps of volunteers who have "critical skills to serve on missions abroad when America needs them," Bush said.

Despite sounding new, the proposal has been kicking around in the administration for more than a year.

Efforts to set up a civilian volunteer corps have been under way in the State Department. The plan, according to department documents, is to build a volunteer corps of police officers, judges, civil administrators and governance and infrastructure efforts to help the military and civilian agencies in post-war peacekeeping efforts.

The State Department even tucked a $25 million request for the civilian reserves into the fiscal 2007 budget submitted to Congress last February. But Congress so far has given up trying to pass an appropriations bill covering the department, so any new programs, including the civilian corps, will not be getting needed startup funds this year.

Last year, the Senate approved by unanimous consent the creation of a civil reserve as part of the Reconstruction and Stabilization Civilian Management Act, sponsored by then-Foreign Relations Chairman Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and co-sponsored by Warner and others.

That bill, however, was referred to the House International Relations Committee, which took no action on it in the last, Republican-led Congress.

Meanwhile, a senior Defense Department official broached the idea of having the Pentagon create a civilian reserve to relieve the burden on troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, a House GOP aide recalled. This came up during an informal discussion with House Armed Services Committee staff members last fall.

"We're still waiting [after the president's speech] to find out details," the aide said. "Is it a State deal? Is it a DOD deal? A lot of questions have to be answered."

The State Department, however, appears to be the agency most likely to take the lead. According to a June 2006 Congressional Research Service report, department officials already are planning the reserve to fill a gap between permanent U.S. government employees, who deploy immediately in a crisis, and contractors, who take longer to hire, organize and send overseas.

The civilian reservists would deploy within 30 to 60 days, be treated as government workers, and be paid at a level comparable to federal employees performing the same or similar work. During their deployment, they would be held to the same ethics and other standards as government employees.

Attracting recruits to volunteer for dangerous missions, however, might be difficult, especially with contractor positions overseas often paying six-figure salaries or per diems of $1,000. The volunteers also would not have the same "re-employment rights" as members of the military Guard and Reserve, who are protected from discriminatory actions by their employers arising from their part-time military service.