Congress drops attempt to get women on board after GOP outcry

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan provision in an annual defense measure that would have required all young Americans to register for military conscription has been removed following a Republican backlash.

Lawmakers attempted to include the provision in the $ 777.9 billion measure, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2022, to require that all Americans, including women, between the ages of 18 and 25 be included for registration with the Selective Service System.

Although the layout had support members of both parties like Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) and Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), as well as Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jack Reed ( DR.I.), the Republicans decided to remove the measure, arguing that women should not be forced to fight in wars.

The House adopted a final negotiated version of the bill, generally considered to be a must-have law, 363-70. The measure now goes to the Senate.

Politics first reported the language on the military project had been removed from the compromise.

Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri said the Twitter that if the text of the bill was not removed from the bill, he “would continue to insist that a Senate vote be taken to remove the provision.”

He presented his own amendment, which struck out the provision.

GOP senators who signed the amendment included Ted Cruz of Texas, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Steve Daines of Montana, Mike Lee of Utah and Marco Rubio of Florida, among others.

Representative Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), Also voiced her objection to the registration requirement in the NDAA.

“This provision was never intended to improve military readiness,” she said on Twitter. “Instead, it was brought before a committee under the inappropriate guise of ‘equality’, forcing a stirred ideology on our troops rather than meeting the current needs of our army.”

She then welcomed the removal of the change to selective service requirements.

“Women are not chess pieces in a political game,” she said. “They are physicians, lawyers, engineers and already valuable members of our all-volunteer force. “

Under current law, only “men” are required to register for selective service, which has not been used since the Vietnam War.

The inclusion of the provision even had the support of the White House.

“The administration supports Section 513 and the registration requirement for all citizens, which further ensures a military selective system that is fair and equitable,” according to the Biden administration, referring to the section of the draft of law dealing with the requirement.

Ernst, the first female veteran senator, has expressed support for the inclusion of women in the selective service.

“Senator Ernst – the first female combat veteran elected to the Senate and mother of a daughter at West Point – supports more women joining our armed forces and believes that, although extremely rare, in the event that a conscription is instituted, women bring enormous talent to our national defense, ”her office said in a statement.