Bill would only allow Congress to decide on drafting women

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) officially introduced legislation that would only allow Congress to decide whether women should have to register for the draft.

“When it comes to whether or not women should be forced to fight in combat, there are honest differences of opinion on the issue,” Lee said. “Some say the right policy now is to end selective service altogether. Some want to add women, but only as a contingency. Some say women might be drafted, but precluded from combat positions.

{mosads}“This is an unsettled debate,” he continued. “So it’s a decision that should be made by the American people’s elected representatives — not unelected bureaucrats or judges.”

The bill was co-sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Marco Rubio (Fla.), both Republican presidential candidates, as well as Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.).

Lee had promised earlier this month to introduce a bill that would keep women out of the draft unless Congress changes the law.

It’s the third bill in Congress about the draft following Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s decision late last year to open all combat jobs to women.

Two House Republicans who oppose Carter’s decision introduced a bill that would require women to register as a way to spark conversation on the implications of opening combat jobs to women. A bipartisan group of four congressmen also introduced a bill that would abolish the draft registration agency, called the Selective Service System, saying discussion should be focused on ending it, not expanding it.

Under Lee’s bill, introduced this week, the Military Selective Service Act would be amended to say only Congress could change who is required to register for the draft and that the courts don’t have jurisdiction on the issue.

“We have had enough with political correctness and social engineering by executive fiat, especially regarding our military,” Cruz said in a written statement. “Political correctness is dangerous, and the idea that we would draft our daughters to forcibly bring them into the military and put them in close combat is wrong. It is immoral, and we shouldn’t do it.”

In 1981, the Supreme Court ruled that women did not have to register for the draft since combat jobs were closed to them.

But two lawsuits against the Selective Service System are currently working their way through the court system. The lawsuits allege the draft is discriminatory since it excludes women.

Two top generals have said they think Carter’s decision means women should now have to register for the draft.