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U.S. Marines will participate in the annual Veterans Day Parade in New York City on November 11, 2023.
CNN
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The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee has strongly opposed a selective service change that would allow men to automatically register for the draft when they turn 18, casting doubt on whether the proposal will become law even though the committee’s Democratic chairman has said the idea has merit and it was overwhelmingly approved by the Republican-led House Armed Services Committee.
“I don’t think right now we need to cloud the NDAA with things that are not likely to happen in the next few years. We’re not going to need to draft troops anytime soon,” Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi told CNN, arguing that Washington should not now be distracted from its overriding responsibility of confronting imminent threats from international adversaries.
At issue is a proposal pushed by Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a Pennsylvania Democrat and former airman, who wants to add language to the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act that would require men to automatically register for the draft based on their existing federal records, rather than having to register themselves when they turn 18. Doing so could improve compliance rates and save money currently spent on outreach efforts to encourage men to voluntarily sign up.
The House NDAA passed out of committee on a broad vote of 57 to 1. It passed the full House on a more partisan vote of 217 to 1.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was “only vaguely familiar” with the House proposal but said it could be worth pursuing.
“I think it’s something that should be considered,” he said. “Maybe if we had data to show that it’s a more efficient way to do it, then I wouldn’t have a problem with that.”
Reid added: “I think this is a subject of reasonable debate: Is it more efficient? Is it more effective? Can you mobilize more quickly? Can you keep your records more up to date?”
Defense Secretary Wicker recently proposed a major increase in defense spending starting next year to better prepare the nation’s military, saying the current situation is one of the most dangerous in American history, with conflicts in Europe and the Middle East and threats from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.
“We need to focus on the crisis, which is that in terms of our resolve, we’re not prepared to stop this axis of aggressors from making stupid mistakes,” Wicker said. “We need to focus on spending the resources we need to get to where we need to be, and we don’t need to be talking about conscription right now.”
A companion issue is whether to require women to register for the draft. An updated version of the NDAA passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee last week would amend the Military Selective Service Act to require women to register for the draft.
Reid suggested that despite its inclusion in the Senate bill, the measure may not become law when a final version of the bill is negotiated between the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-led Senate because of Republican opposition to women being drafted.
“This is a really painful issue and I don’t understand it. There was an amendment to require women to register but it didn’t get the support of the opposition. We’re trying to do that. It makes sense. The military right now is a mixed force,” he said.
When asked about adding women to the rolls, Wicker gave a simple answer: “No,” but he has spoken out on the subject in the past.
“I respect the women who volunteer to serve in the military and make sacrifices every day for our nation’s freedom, but it is wrong to compel them to serve by law,” Wicker said during a similar debate in 2021. “I, along with millions of other Americans, cannot support the idea that our daughters and granddaughters should be forced to fight against their will in the next military conflict.”
