U.S. Marine Corps recruits line up during a training event at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, March 9, 2021 (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Ana S. Madrigal)
On whether women should be required to register for potential The debate over the draft pick has restarted in Congress.
Last year, Congress was on the brink of enrolling women in what would officially be called the Selective Service System, but despite bipartisan support, the idea was blocked from being signed into law after closed-door House-Senate negotiations. Removed from policy bill.
Now, the proposal is back in a version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passing the Senate, and conservatives are once again vowing to fight fiercely against what they call "drafting our daughters."
The U.S. military has not drafted anyone since the Vietnam War , and defense officials have repeatedly said they have no intention of withdrawing from the all-volunteer force.
But men between the ages of 18 and 25 must still register for the Selective Service in the event of an emergency catastrophic enough to trigger a draft. If they fail to register, men face risks such as losing their chance to receive federal financial aid for college.
Earlier this month, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 20-6 to require women to register as part of its version of this year's NDAA. The version of the NDAA proposed last week by the House Armed Services Committee does not include a similar provision, although the committee supported the idea last year.
The makeup of Congress and the political dynamics have not changed since last year, when the same group of conservative lawmakers who opposed the provision vowed to fight again this year.
"The reality is that if we are a nation that actively chooses to forcibly draft our daughters, we are past the point of redemption," Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told House Armed Forces leaders this month. wrote a letter. Service Committee. In another tweet opposing women signing up for the draft, Roy claimed without citing specific evidence that "even volunteering women in the military would lead to lower standards."
In the Senate, 12 Republicans wrote wrote a letter saying that including the selective service provision in the NDAA "would be a serious mistake and would unnecessarily inject divisive social policy into important debates about our national security."
In 1981, the Supreme Court ruled that only Male conscription was justified because women were excluded from combat work.
But all combat jobs are open to women in 2015. Congress followed that decision by requiring women to register as draftees in the initial version of the NDAA in 2016. It was jettisoned from that year's final version of the law in favor of a committee studying the future of the draft.
The committee completed its work in 2020 and recommended that draft registration be extended to women, calling it a "necessary and fair step".
The Supreme Court declined to revisit the issue last year, citing expectations that Congress would act soon.
Backed by the committee's recommendations, lawmakers attempted to require women to register in last year's NDAA. But while the bill existed in both the House and Senate versions and had bipartisan support, the requirement was again removed from the version of the NDAA signed into law amid strong opposition from a small group of conservatives.
After last year's defeat, supporters of female draft registration vowed to continue efforts to update selective service requirements.
"To say that only men are needed in this moment of national emergency is outrageous and obscene," Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said at a news conference after last year's NDAA was finalized.
In a statement this month, Gillibrand highlighted the selective services provisions in this year's NDAA as "one of the important programs and measures now becoming law."
