WASHINGTON â Conservatives are expressing outrage about a pending Senate National Defense Authorization Act that would require women to register for the draft, and two defense hawks opposed the Pentagon bill in the Armed Services Committee over the issue.
The Senateâs NDAA, which the committee approved Wednesday, contains an amendment by the panelâs chairman, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, that would require women to sign up with Selective Service, just as men do between the ages of 18 and 25. If enacted, women could be drafted into military service in the event of a national emergency, though there is no prospect of that on the horizon, and no American has been drafted in nearly half a century.
Conservatives riled up over bill requiring women to enter draft
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Senate Democrats put female draft back on the table
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Gina Ortiz Jones and Shawn Skelly make LGBTQ+ history with Senate confirmation
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In a massive step for LGBTQ+ rights, the US Senate has confirmed two LGBTQ+ nominees to the Department of Defense.
Gina Ortiz Jones and Shawn Skelly have both officially started their respective positions in the defense apartment.
Jones was confirmed as the undersecretary of the Air Force. This has made her the first out lesbian to hold the position through all branches of the military.
She has also become the first woman of colour to be an undersecretary for any military branch.
Skelly is set to serve as the assistant secretary of defense for readiness which makes her the first transgender position to hold the position. She is also the highest-ranking out trans defense official.
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Selective Service would only be enacted in the rare event of war
Jul 23, 2021 11:41 PM EDT
Image: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty ImagesPatrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
(ABC NEWS) Capitol Hill A U.S. Senate committee has approved legislation that would, if enacted, require young women to register for Selective Service alongside men, and in the rare event of a war or other national emergency, be drafted for the first time in the nation’s history.
During the Vietnam War between 1964 and 1973 nearly 2 million men were drafted in the U.S., according to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. Just afterward, in 1973, facing a tide of opposition to the controversial draft, President Richard Nixon officially ended military conscription, and the U.S. established an all-volunteer force.