Greene claims allowing women to be drafted would 'jeopardize' the country

At a Monday hearing, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) argued that including women in the military draft would “jeopardize” American security and “undermine the military’s combat prowess.”

The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, which is currently under consideration by Congress and authorizes defense spending, contains an amendment which if passed would extend the Selective Service System program to include women. Currently, only men over the age of 18 have to register for the draft.

In a meeting of the House Rules Committee, Greene offered an amendment that would keep the draft in its current form.

“Drafting American wives, mothers, daughters, for mandatory military service unnecessary politicizes military service and would jeopardize the national security of this nation,” said Greene.

Greene noted that “men are, by their very nature, the best suited” to meet the demands of the draft, which is designed for “meeting the needs of the armed forces as fast as possible.”

“The effort to draft America’s daughters into frontline combat duty will undermine the military’s combat prowess, lead to greater wartime casualties, and take away from the defense capacity,” she added.

Greene’s position runs contrary to even some Republicans, who recently voted in support of adding women to the draft.

The language passed in a bipartisan vote of the House Armed Services Committee on Sept. 2, by margin of 35-24. Similar language has been included in the Senate’s draft version of the bill.

During the hearing, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), an Army veteran, voiced his support for women being included.

“Whatever the emergency is, if it’s so great that we have to go to a draft, we need everybody,” said Waltz. “We need men, women, gay, straight, any religion, black, white, brown. We need all hands on deck.”

Greene’s remarks also run contrary to the findings of a panel of government, military, and legal experts appointed by a bipartisan group of leaders — including former President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), and former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan — that was tasked with reviewing the possible impact of including women in the draft.

In March 2020, the panel released a report titled “Inspired to Serve.” It noted, “The Commission concluded that the time is right to extend Selective Service System registration to include men and women, between the ages of 18 and 26. This is a necessary and fair step, making it possible to draw on the talent of a unified Nation in a time of national emergency.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.