On September 1st the House Armed Services Committee joined the Senate Armed Services Committee in voting 35-24 to expandย registration for a possible military draftย to include youngย womenย as well as young men.

Following this House committee vote and an earlier Senate committee vote in July (before Congressโ€™s summer vacation), the versions of the annual “must-pass”ย National Defense Authorization Actย (NDAA) to be considered later this fall in both the House and Senate will includeย provisionsย requiring women to register for the draft within 30 days of their 18th birthdayย and report to theย Selective Service Systemย each time they change their address until their 26th birthday, as young men have been required to doย since 1980.

An alternativeย compromise amendmentย to suspend draft registration unless the President declared a national emergency and put the Selective Service System intoย standbyย was submitted before Wednesday’s committee session, but ruled out of order on the basis of arcaneย PAYGOย procedural rules.

Under the same rules, the amendment to the NDAA to expand draft registration to women was ruled in order, considered, andย adopted without any antiwar opposition from members of the committee.

Floor amendments may be proposed when the NDAA is considered by the full House and/or the Senate toย repealย the Military Selective Service Act, end draft registration entirely, abolish the Selective Service System, orย put Selective Service into “standby”ย as it was from 1975-1980.

But even if such amendments are proposed and put to a vote, they have little chance of success in either the House or the Senate.

Itโ€™s now overwhelmingly likely that the Fiscal Year 2022 NDAAย to be adopted in late 2021 or early 2022ย will authorize the President to order women to register for the draft at age 18, starting in 2023 with women born in 2005 and after.

Read the rest of the full report at AntiWar.com

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