A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a bill on Thursday to abolish the draft, adding yet another chapter to a debate over selective service prompted by lifting the combat ban for women.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., said that it’s time to get rid of a “mean-spirited and outdated” system that isn’t used but still penalizes those who don’t register.
“Not only will abolishing the selective service save the U.S. taxpayers money, it will remove an undue burden on our nation’s young people,” DeFazio said in a statement. “We need to get rid of this mean-spirited and outdated system and trust that if the need should arise Americans – both male and female – will answer the call to defend our nation.”
The selective service costs taxpayers $23 million a year, and the last service member to be drafted entered the Army in 1973.
“Maintaining the Selective Service simply makes no sense. In 1973, the last draftee entered the Army and since then, despite the first Gulf War and subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon has never considered reinstituting the draft,” Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., and a Marine Corps combat vet, said in a statement. “Our all-volunteer military has given us the most elite fighting force in the history of this country.”
Coffman and DeFazio were joined by Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., in introducing the legislation.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter in December announced that he would ask for no exemptions and all combat positions would be opened to women by April 1. The historic change immediately raised questions of whether women should be required to sign up for the draft. A Supreme Court decision found that women were not required to sign up because of the ban on combat.
The Justice Department has said it’s up to Congress to make a decision on the issue, Larry Romo, the director of the selective service, said last month.
Two other members of the House last week introduced a bill that would require women to register for the draft. Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., who are both combat veterans, said that it’s important to have a conversation about women in the selective service now that women can serve in all the military’s front line positions.
“It’s unfortunate that a bill like this even needs to be introduced,” Hunter said in a statement. “And it’s legislation that I might very well vote against should it be considered during the annual defense authorization process.”
On the other side of Capitol Hill, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has introduced a bill that would bar women from registering for the draft to preempt any change in law by the Supreme Court, National Review reported.
The uniformed leaders of the Army and Marine Corps told Congress last week that they believe women should sign up for the draft now that the combat ban has been lifted.
“It’s my personal view that based on this lifting of restrictions … that every American who’s physically qualified should register for the draft,” Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
Some influential members of Congress agree with them. Sen. John McCarin, R-Ariz., and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Roll Call on Wednesday that he believed women should be required to enter the selective service, calling it a “logical conclusion.”
