"Draft Our Daughters" Combat Carve-Out Ploy Not Acceptable
The following comments may be attributed to Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness (CMR), an independent public policy organization, founded in 1993, which reports on and analyzes military social issues.
“The Center for Military Readiness (CMR) has posted a new analysis of misguided ‘Draft Our Daughters’ legislation, which was incorporated in the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2025:
“Meeting behind closed doors on June 14, the Senate Committee approved controversial legislation to automatically register with Selective Service all persons of draft age living in the United States and subject to Selective Service law. (Report on S. 4638, Sec. 598-598D)
“Sponsors sprang this unwelcome surprise with a “deal-sweetening” ploy to gain more votes – a “combat carve-out” that purports to exempt female draftees from being “compelled to join combat roles that were closed to women prior to December 3, 2015 . . .” (Sec. 529B)
“This is a false promise and an irresponsible ruse, which makes ‘Draft Our Daughters’ no more acceptable than it has been in previous years.
“Officials who cannot define what a woman is cannot be trusted to define what ‘combat’ is, especially during a time of chaotic national emergency when the greatest need for casualty replacements would be in combat arms units such as the infantry.
“‘Draft Our Daughters’ would jam Selective Service mobilization systems and weaken military readiness at the worst possible time. It would also force significant incremental steps toward a ‘Presumption of Service to the Government,’ facilitated by automatic registration for less than compelling reasons.
“Any legislation that sets these plans in motion is simply unacceptable.
"Policy changes affecting virtually every young man and woman in America should be debated fully and in the open, not used as bargaining chips behind closed doors.
“Americans want Congress to support our military with sound policies, not weaken it on the way to seizing more power over young people’s lives. We expect that lawmakers will drop ‘Draft Our Daughters’ from the NDAA and return it to the legislative dustbin where it belongs.
“The schedule of votes in the full Senate, including a motion to strike the legislation sponsored by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), is not known, but conferees may work to consolidate the Senate Committee-passed version with the House bill during August. The resulting bill will be voted on after September 9.
“This CMR article analyzes several more issues, both Positive and Negative, that deserve serious attention before final votes on the NDAA:
“There are some good sections in the Senate bill that are similar to measures in the House version of the NDAA:
- Prohibit new diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) positions and replacements
- Prohibit DoD funding for sex change treatments on adults and children
- Prohibit DoD funds for transportation and settlement of refugees from Gaza and the West Bank
“With a few exceptions, the House also approved good measures that deserve support in House/Senate Conference Committee negotiations on the NDAA for 2025:
- End racial discrimination at the military service academies
- Eliminate the Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) of the DoD
- Prohibit radical gender ideology, pornography, and critical race theory (CRT) ideology in DoD Education Activity (DODEA) schools
- Prohibit DoD reimbursements for travel related to non-covered abortions
- Limit or prohibit inappropriate flags, drag shows or story hours on military bases
- Continue limiting COVID-19 mandates and help persons negatively affected by them
- Prohibit funds to implement “climate change” and “clean energy” EOs and mandates
“Americans expect that members of Congress will wisely exercise their Article 1, Section 8 constitutional powers to establish sound policies for men and women serving in the All-Volunteer Force.
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