From Military.com:
“Women Should Have to Register
for the Draft, Congressional Commission Says”
A commission formed by Congress
to assess military and national service is calling for women to be included in
selective service registration, Military.com has learned. The 11-member
National Commission on Military, National and Public Service is set to release
a final report with 164 recommendations Wednesday, following two-and-a-half
years of research and fieldwork on topics including propensity to serve in the
military; the civilian-military divide; and the future of the U.S. Selective Service
System. One of the most hotly debated questions considered by the panel is
whether women should be required to register for the draft for the first time
in U.S. history. A source with knowledge of the report confirmed that the
commission had recommended that women should be made eligible for selective
service. Politico first reported Tuesday on the commission's findings. Other
recommendations include keeping the U.S. Selective Service System and keeping
the registration requirement, which currently applies to American males within
30 days of their 18th birthday.
The panel was created as a result
of debate over whether women should be made to register for the draft. In 2016,
the same year all military ground combat and special operations jobs were
opened to women for the first time, two Republicans in Congress, both veterans,
introduced the "Draft America's Daughters Act of 2016." The move was
intended to provoke discussion; both lawmakers planned to vote against their
own bill. But the provision ultimately became law as part of the 2017 defense
policy package. From that initiative, the commission was formed to further
study the issue. During 2019 hearings on the question, Katey van Dam, a Marine
Corps veteran who flew attack helicopters, argued eloquently in support of
including women in selective service registration. "Today, women sit in
C-suites and are able to hold any military job for which they are
qualified," she said. "As society expects opportunity parity for
women, it is time to also expect equal civic responsibility. In the event of a
major war that requires national mobilization, women should serve their country
to the same extent as male citizens." In an interview with Military.com
earlier this month, Joe Heck, the chairman of the commission and a brigadier
general in the U.S. Army Reserve, said the issue of including women in draft
registration had inspired passionate debate among the commissioners. "The
recommendations made represent the consensus of the commission," he said.
"We believe that the commission's recommendations specifically in regard
to [the U.S. Selective Service System] will best place the nation as able to
respond to any existential national security threat that may arise." Heck
also said the commission planned to chart a "cradle-to-grave pathway to
service" for Americans. In addition to the report, the commission will
release accompanying draft legislation Wednesday to assist Congress in turning
its proposals into law. A future hearing before the Senate Armed Services
Committee is also planned to discuss the commission's findings.
^ It only makes sense that when
women were finally allowed into every role (combat and non-combat) in the US
Military that equality should also extend to the Selective Service (The Draft.)
Men and women 18-25 years old should be required to register for the Selective
Service in case The Draft is ever brought back (which I do not believe it ever
will be.) The US has not had The Draft since 1973 and we have had a professional
Military protect our country and around the world ever since. Bringing back The
Draft would be political suicide for all politicians supporting it. With that
said: as long as the Selective Service is still around then both men and women should
be required to register. You can’t pick-and-chose your equality. It is either
full equality or not. ^
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