WASHINGTON – The GOP's traditional resistance to having women register for a potential military draft is fading on Capitol Hill, where key Republican lawmakers like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell now support the idea.
“Given where we are today, with women in the military performing virtually all kinds of functions, I personally think it would be appropriate for them to register just like men do,” McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters on Capitol Hill.
His comments Tuesday reverberated in Washington, where a new debate is unfolding over who should have to register with the Selective Service System in case the military needs to draft people into active duty. The system currently registers men 18-25 only, but when the Obama administration opened military combat jobs to women, draft eligibility was seen as a logical next step.
The Senate Armed Services Committee made a registration requirement for women part of the annual defense policy bill it approved last week.
“Because the Department of Defense has lifted the ban on women serving in ground combat units, the committee believes there is no further justification in limiting the duty to register under the Military Selective Service Act to men,” the committee wrote in its summary of the bill.
The House Armed Services Committee earlier included the provision in its version of the defense bill, with support from almost all committee Democrats and six Republicans.
Such bipartisan agreement usually means an idea is well on its way to becoming law. But a last-minute maneuver by conservatives to remove the provision from the House bill sets up a confrontation when the defense bill goes to final negotiations in the coming weeks.
Democrats say adding women to the Selective Service list would help achieve equality for women in the military, which they say conservatives oppose.
“This is a dead-of-night attempt to take an important issue off the table, and I think people will probably see through this tactic,” said Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.
There hasn’t been a draft since 1973, but McConnell’s statements are a sign the Senate is likely to insist on changing the law to include women.
“I don't anticipate going back to the draft,” McConnell said. “The professional voluntary army has been very successful. We're talking here about registration for Selective Service, should we ever go back to a draft.”
Military leaders from the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps testified in March in support of requiring women to register with the Selective Service System.
"As you know, we've opened up all combat positions to women and I think they should have the opportunity to serve in whatever position they want," said Lt. Gen. James McConville, the Army's deputy chief of staff for personnel. "And the fact that they can serve in combat, they ought to be eligible for the draft."
But not all Senate Republicans are on board. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said he voted against the defense bill in committee because of the proposed change to the Selective Service system.
“This is a highly consequential – and, for many American families, a deeply controversial – decision that deserves to be resolved by Congress after a robust and transparent debate in front of the American people, instead of buried in an embargoed document that is passed every year to fund military pay and benefits,” Lee said.
The Selective Service System budget request for fiscal 2017 is $22.9 million, almost identical to what the agency will spend in the current fiscal year.
Contact Mary Troyan at mtroyan@usatoday.com
