Source: Nworeport

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., filed an amendment Monday to prevent Democrats from requiring women to register for the military draft – something he says is out of step with the American public.

Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed, D-R.I., proposed changing the National Defense Authorization Act’s language to require “all Americans,” instead of males, to register for the draft. The current proposal uses the gender-neutral “person.”

On Sunday, Hawley told Fox News he thought the idea was “so wrong and out of touch with most Americans.”

“Most Americans say if a woman wants to serve that’s wonderful – and by the way, women have been absolutely central to our war efforts since we have been a country, in many different ways, including of course fighting. But the idea that they be forced into compulsory service, I just think it’s crazy.”

“I know that’s how the people of Missouri feel. The fact that the Democrats – this is one of their top priorities for a bill that’s supposed to be about funding the military. What do they want to do? They want to force women to have to enter the draft.”

Requiring women’s registration has bipartisan backing in Congress, which mandated a commission that ultimately backed the measure last year.

The 11-member commission concluded it was “a necessary and fair step, making it possible to draw on the talent of a unified nation in a time of national emergency.”

However, the idea is less popular among Americans. In August, an Ipsos survey disclosed that 45% of Americans backed drafting women

compared to 63% in 2016. Support further broke down along gender lines with men supporting the idea at 55% compared to only 36% among women.

In June, the matter caught headlines when the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to the decades-old requirement. In her opinion, Justice Sotomayor deferred to Congress, though showed that a male-only draft could be challenged as discriminatory.

“It remains to be seen, of course, whether Congress will end gender-based registration under the Military Selective Service Act,” she stated. “But at least for now, the Court’s longstanding deference to Congress on matters of national defense and military affairs cautions against granting review while Congress actively weighs the issue.”

There has not been a draft in the United States since the Vietnam War, and the military is currently an all-volunteer force.

The United States has used some form of conscription since the Revolutionary War. A draft system was used throughout World War I, and the country’s first-ever peacetime draft was held in 1940 before the American entry into World War II. Ten million men were drafted during World War II. From the end of WWII until 1973, men were drafted to fill vacancies in the military.