Heritage Action for America, a conservative lobbying group, will endorse amendments by Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), and Mike Lee (R-UT) that would strip a provision in the annual defense policy bill that requires women to register for the Selective Service, Breitbart News has exclusively learned.
“This effort to ‘draft our daughters’ is an empty gesture to bow to the wokeness that has gripped much of the present-day military leadership. Fortunately, Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), and Mike Lee (R-UT) have all recognized that this is bad policy and have introduced separate amendments to remove the provision from the NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act], and several more Senators have signed onto these amendments in support,” the group plans to say in a statement this week.
The group will call on senators to demand their amendments receive a vote on the Senate floor and to vote in favor of those amendments.
“It is vital that voters understand where their senators stand on this critical issue. Heritage Action encourages all Senators to vote in favor of Senator Hawley’s, Inhofe’s, or Lee’s amendments to strike section 511 should they receive a vote on the Senate floor,” the group will say.
The amendments would be to the National Defense Authorization Act, the annual bill that authorizes Pentagon activities and spending.
Democrats in the House and Senate proposed extending selective service to women, arguing it was unconstitutional to exclude women based on gender. The legislation attracted the support of several Republicans, but most voted against it.
“This current system doesn’t fence off anyone. Anyone…can step up now to serve our nation, but this amendment is a solution in search of a problem,” Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) said when the provision was added to the House defense bill, according to Military.com.
James Carafano, vice president of Heritage Foundation’s Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute, argued that the requirement for women to sign up for selective service does not promote the common defense.
First, he said that the draft is an “anachronism” that contributes nothing to military readiness and is a symbolic measure in the name of wokeness.
“The draft does nothing to build better citizens or patriotism, since other than filling out a form, it requires nothing from our youths. The vast majority of them would not qualify for military service whether they were drafted or not,” he contended in a piece in September.
“The last thing America needs are more people worshipping at the altar of wokeness, as opposed to living in the land of reality,” he added.
The provision would also ignore the tens of millions who morally object to the notion of drafting wives and daughters for combat.
“A cadre in Congress just decided they thought they would do this without a national debate or a mandate from the American people. It’s a very Biden-esque way of doing things. It’s just not a very American way of doing things,” Carafano added. “Voluntary military service is a great strength of a free society.
“Let’s make that stronger. Let’s encourage young Americans to serve,” he added. “Let’s leave the woke aside for once.”
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