U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) joined a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers in calling on the U.S. House Armed Services Committee to reject an expanded military draft registration, particularly one that would include women.
Specifically, Rep. Davis and his colleagues urged committee leaders not to include language that would do so in the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
“As you know, the Senate Armed Services Committee included language in its recently marked-up NDAA to expand military draft registration to women. Proponents of this change argue that it would end discrimination in the Selective Service System (SSS),” the lawmakers wrote in a July 23 letter sent to U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), ranking member on the committee.
“We believe that a better way to achieve equality under the law would be to end military draft registration altogether and scrap this needless and expensive bureaucracy,” wrote Rep. Davis, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rand Paul (R-KY).
The four lawmakers in April introduced the Selective Service Repeal Act, H.R. 2509, which would repeal the Military Selective Service Act, thereby terminating the registration requirements and eliminating civilian local boards, civilian appeal boards, and similar local agencies of the SSS, according to the text of the bill.
In their letter, Rep. Davis and his colleagues requested that their proposed bill be included in the FY2022 NDAA and pointed out that the United States has not relied on military conscription since 1973, when Congress declined to extend authority to continue the draft. Former President Gerald Ford ended draft registration in 1975, but former President Jimmy Carter reinstated it in 1980.
“Since then, the Pentagon and administrations of both parties have consistently agreed there is no military or national security imperative to reinstate a military draft,” the lawmakers wrote.
Additionally, according to their letter, the SSS has “a number of problems,” including rules that are not currently followed, the accuracy and reliability of the SSS database, and “unnecessarily punitive, lifelong penalties” if American men do not register by their 26th birthday.
“Finally, the SSS has cost taxpayers $800 million over the last 35 years, money that could be spent solving real problems rather than planning for a draft that the military doesn’t want and Congress will never reinstate,” they wrote.