On Monday, December 6, 2021, Congress worked on the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2022. This act had passed in the House and is currently being debated in the Senate. One big change in the bill was dropping the provision of forcing women to register for the draft.
Summary Of H.R. 4350
This bill defines monetary use by the military. Specifically, if allows pay raises for troops. It also allows money for military construction- to meet climate change requirements.
Nord Stream
Several senators objected to the bill that supported Russia building a pipeline to Germany.
Uyghur Labor
Another obstacle in the NDAA’s passage is in connection to the forced labor by Uyghur Muslims in China. Senator Rubio wants items from this region to not enter the U.S. market. This part still needs to pass in the House.
Women Draft
Meanwhile, the section about women being drafted was removed from the bill. Too many citizens oppose the idea. Missouri Senator Hawley threatened to
insist on a vote on the Senate floor to strike down the provision [1]
if this section was not deleted. Senator Hawley worked diligently with Senator Lee from Utah to not draft women. While allowing women to register for the draft was more popular in 2016, per an Ipsos poll, today not nearly as many citizens approve of a woman draft [2].
Current Status
Currently, the NDAA bill has been read twice and is placed on the calendar for discussion. For your reading, the bill in its entirety can be read here.
Notes:
- ^https://thefederalist.com/2021/12/07/congress-ditches-provision-forcing-women-to-join-draft-after-pressure-from-some-gop/?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=congress-ditches-provision-forcing-women-to-join-draft-after-pressure-from-some-gop (go back ↩)
- ^https://thefederalist.com/2021/12/07/congress-ditches-provision-forcing-women-to-join-draft-after-pressure-from-some-gop/?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=congress-ditches-provision-forcing-women-to-join-draft-after-pressure-from-some-gop (go back ↩)
