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Woman may soon be included in the national draft
Representatives are once again discussing the idea of requiring women to register for the national draft.
Congress came very close to forcing women to register with the Selective Service System — the formal name of the national draft — but ultimately abandoned the idea. In spite of strong bipartisan support , the defense bill that was signed into law ended up ended up missing that piece following intense negotiations between the House and Senate that occurred behind closed doors.
The Senate Armed Services Committee voted earlier this month on requiring women to register with the Selective Service System as part of this year’s his year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The vote passed 20 – 6.
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Senate is now reviewing the new NDAA and Representatives on the right side of the aisle are already up in arms about “drafting our daughters.”
Texas Representative, Chip Roy recently wrote the following to the House Armed Services Committee: “The reality is that if we are a country that actively chooses to forcibly conscript our daughters, we are past the point of salvation.” Chip also tweeted on the subject claiming, “even volunteer women in the military cause the standards to be reduced.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This is pathetic. Even volunteer women in the military cause the standards to be reduced. These Republicans are from bright red states & this is what we get… in the face of open borders, inflation, mandatory jabs, crime… these clowns draft women. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DontDraftOurDaughters?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DontDraftOurDaughters</a> (3/3)</p>— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) <a href="https://twitter.com/chiproytx/status/1537225406050627584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 16, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Currently, the only citizens required to register for the draft are men between the ages of 18 and 25. Even though the military hasn’t drafted anyone since Vietnam in an effort to maintain an all-volunteer force, the Selective Service System exists in case of a national emergency that requires expanding the size of the force immediately.
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12 other Republican Reps. wrote a letter in which they state that if the new NDAA contained a Selective Service provision, it "would be a grave mistake and would needlessly inject divisive social policies into important debates over our national security."
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said at a news conference following the finalization of year's NDAA, "To say only men are needed in that moment of a national emergency is outrageous and obscene."
