The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved language in its annual defense policy bill that would require women to register for the draft.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) approved by the committee behind closed doors Wednesday “amends the Military Selective Service Act to require the registration of women for Selective Service,” according to a summary released Thursday.
The United States has not instituted a draft since the Vietnam War, and Pentagon officials have repeatedly said they intend to keep the force all-volunteer.
But men ages 18 through 25 still have to register with what’s officially known as the Selective Service System or face consequences such as losing access to federal financial aid for college.
Congress has been debating whether to expand the registration requirement to women since all combat jobs were opened to female service members in 2016.
That year, both the House and Senate Armed Services committees included a requirement for women to register in their initial versions of the NDAA.
But the House’s version of the bill dropped the language before the bill came to the floor. After conservatives pushed to exclude the language during negotiations between the House and Senate, the version of the NDAA that ultimately became law instead created a commission to review the draft registration requirements.
Last year, that commission recommended draft registration be expanded to include women, calling it a “necessary and fair step.”
Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed (D-R.I.) earlier this year hinted the changes to the draft would make it into his committee’s NDAA, saying he hoped to incorporate the commission’s recommendations “in large part.”
In June, the Supreme Court declined to take up a case challenging the constitutionality of the all-male draft, citing the expectation that Congress would soon act on the issue.
“It remains to be seen, of course, whether Congress will end gender-based registration under the Military Selective Service Act,” wrote Justice Sonia Sotomayor in an opinion, joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Brett Kavanaugh. “But at least for now, the Court’s longstanding deference to Congress on matters of national defense and military affairs cautions against granting review while Congress actively weighs the issue.”
When I served in the Navy during the Vietnam Conflict, I did not see combat directly. I still cannot discuss much of what I did, as some of it is still classified, but I can say it involved nuclear energy. Other than a couple of jobs that required heavy lifting, none of the other roles aboard ship could not have been done by women. If we do instate the draft, we would have to ensure that as many women are drafted as men, in order to keep it fair. With modern technology, we will probably require far fewer ‘boots on the ground’ in hostile areas than were needed in the past, so that opens up even more roles for both sexes.
Ships?! You’re clueless! The battle today is mainly on the land and will be for many yrs to come. A LOT of women either have no interest to be put through the rigger or are NOT equipped to carry the A.L.I.C.E pack loads of 97-135. Freaking absurd! Not to mention the complete and utter torture your daughters, nieces, and granddaughters will have to face by radical enemies like China, Iran, Russia or North Korea. This looks like an obvious need for wartime bodies(b/c so many are leaving under this crapshow administration) and/or pop control by the mad evil leftists in our legislature. You will always need boots on the ground… like fewer numbers justifies this demonic move initiated by the left! Just look at the amount of lives lost due to ground combat since Bush’s 9/11!
One thing you can count on is that whether the military, not just the navy, is made more or less battle ready is of no concern to the woke leadership. It’s all leftist ideology all the time. They’ll be just as happy being ruled by China as not.