Will Women Really Be Required To Register For The Military Draft?

Specific wording was added to the annual defense authorization bill, which has everyone weighing in with their opinion.

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According to The Hill, Senate Democrats added language to the annual defense authorization bill that would 'require women to register for the draft'. As expected, there has been an uproar from those who oppose this potential requirement.

There is speculation that conservatives will work to have this provision removed that would require women to register for the draft. A Repubican candidate Sam Brown in particular has offered his perspective as an Army Veteran.

Look at my face. This is the high cost of war and I just found out that Jacky Rosen voted this week to make signing up for the draft mandatory for our daughters. You’ll be hearing more from me on this

Brown was severely burned after an 'improvised explosive device' exploded burning his face. He goes on to say that he and his wife volunteered to serve "and we honor all who serve," but he does not agree that we should be "forcing America's daughters to register for the draft".

In the video, Brown gestures to his scarred face and explains that it's an example of the dangers that women will be exposed to if deployed.

Forcing America’s daughters to register for the draft is UNACCEPTABLE

Some believe that this debate is a distraction considering we are not implementing the draft any time soon. Wicker who is on the Senate Armed Services Committee argued that there are more pressing issues at hand.

I don’t think this is the time to get into a debate on the floor of either house about that. We’re not anywhere near implementing a draft, and to me it’s a distraction when we need to be talking about real issues that are immediate

Those defending the provision are making the argument that it's not infantry that would be needed but 'cyber experts, analysts, linguists' roles that women are excelling in.

It’s not like World War II where we need a lot of infantry. We need cyber experts, we need intelligence analysts, linguists, etc. Wait a second, there are a lot of women out there that can do this better than men

At this time, there are doubts about whether this bill will even be brought to the Senate floor any time soon based on the election approaching.

When was the last military draft?

The United States has not had a military draft since the Vietnam War. In 1973, the Select Service System switched to an all-volunteer military force.

Reinstating the draft would require an act of Congress in the event of a national emergency that the volunteer force could not handle alone.