A group of male Republican senators is trying to strip out language in the Senate’s defense policy bill that would require women to register for the draft.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced an amendment to the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act late last week that would eliminate the section of the bill that requires all 18- to 26-year-old women to register with the Selective Service.
It would replace that section with a requirement for the defense secretary to provide a report to Congress by July 1, 2017, to examine if the draft is still needed. If the secretary finds that the country still needs a system to mobilize large numbers of combat troops, the bill requires him to recommend whether citizens of both genders should be included in that.
Uniformed leaders of both the Army and Marine Corps told Congress this year that they believe women should sign up for the draft.
Lee’s amendment is co-sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.
The proposal would also strip the courts up to and including the Supreme Court from issuing a decision on the case, ensuring the Congress has the final say on whether women would have to register.
The Senate will debate the defense policy bill next week. It’s not yet clear what amendments will get a vote, but analysts expect the issue of women registering for the draft to be debated on the full Senate floor.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has also introduced an amendment that would strike the language requiring women to register and instead get rid of the Selective Service entirely.
Even if the Senate votes to keep the language in the bill requiring women to sign up with the Selective Service, it’s unclear if it will survive conference with the House.
The House Armed Services Committee added the language to its bill during a mark up on a bipartisan vote last month. It was stripped out on the full House floor, however, after Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, tied his amendment to delete that section of the bill to the rule to debate the full bill.
Democrats lambasted the move as a “dead of night” move.
The House bill still contains a section requiring a report on whether the draft is even still needed, and how it would be mobilized if it became necessary.
