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Washington • Sen. Mike Lee will introduce legislation to prohibit the Selective Service from requiring women to sign up in an effort to head off a possible court battle over a gender-neutral draft.
Lee, R-Utah, says that Congress must state specifically that women won't be forced into the system that hasn't been used since the Vietnam War but still requires men over age 18 to register.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1981 that women didn't have to sign up for the Selective Service, but since the military has now dropped the prohibition against women in all roles, including combat, there has been renewed talk of ending the draft gender gap.
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert B. Neller, and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said in a recent Senate hearing they would support such a move.
"I think that all eligible and qualified men and women should register for the draft," Milley said.
Lee's bill essentially restates the current law that only men must register. His office says that the Supreme Court's ruling to uphold that mandate came at a time when women were not allowed in combat and with that restriction now lifted, Congress needs to make clear it doesn't want women in the draft.
"We simply can't trust this president or the courts to honor the law and protect our daughters," Lee said in a statement. "We need new legislation making clear that if the United States is going to change this policy, Congress must be the one to do it."
Lee's office says that it fears the Supreme Court could rewrite the Selective Service law as Lee claims it did with the Affordable Care Act.