A bipartisan group of senators has introduced legislation to end the military draft, calling it an “outdated” government program that no longer serves a purpose.
The bill, introduced Thursday by Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), would repeal the Military Selective Service Act, commonly known as the draft. First passed in 1917 to fill the ranks during World War I, the law requires all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 45 to register for possible military service, but it has not been used since the Vietnam War.
A measure to compel women to register for potential service has continuously been stripped out of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) year after year, most recently in 2021 and 2022.
What’s more, the annual cost of the program has steadily inched upward, jumping from a $26 million budget in 2021 to a $33.4 million request for 2025.
“Women are doing a remarkable job in our forces today, and if we were in a situation requiring a draft, I think we would need all able-bodied citizens 18 and above,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said in June. “If we go to a draft, that means we’re in a serious, serious situation.”
Posted by John3262005
3 Comments
I think we should leave it in and expand it to include women. It costs almost nothing and provides the logistical basis for calling up conscription if we are faced with a national emergency.
Given that young men are always the group in society that gets shipped off to die in wars, what unique benefits do these men get to compensate for the fact at any moment they will be sent to war?
Utterly unserious. In the event of a large mobilization we would have to reinvent the wheel.
!ping military