New Bill Item
However, one particular aspect of the bill’s proposed version stood out to many online readers.
U.S. Department of Defense
The new item read that all males between the ages of 18 and 26 would be included in the bill’s automatic draft registration for the Selective Service System.
Legislative Wording
According to the bill: “Except as otherwise provided in this title, every male citizen of the United States, and every other male person residing in the United States, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six, shall be automatically registered under this Act by the Director of the Selective Service System.”
Spc. Jensen Guillory
Be that as it may, online posts show that many individuals are confounded about precisely what the implications of this bill are.
Draft Selection
Under current U.S. regulation, any individual who was born a man and is as of now between the ages of 18 and 26 is qualified and required to enlist for the draft. You are out of the draft at the age of 26.
Department of Defense
Since the Vietnam War, the U.S. military has not called people up for military service (i.e., drafted them), but in the event that a draft is reinstated, the U.S. needs a list of everyone who is eligible to serve in order to decide who will actually be called to serve.
Selective Service System
The Selective Service System keeps track of that list, which theoretically includes every man between the ages of 18 and 25 who is eligible for military service. You put yourself on the government’s list when you sign up for the draft.
Specialist Steven Hitchcock, U.S. Army
After the military formally turned into a volunteer-only service in 1973, the draft was probably not going to be utilized again.
Emergency Protocol
The draft list and the Selective Service System have been maintained as a “break-glass in case of emergency” precaution in the United States since the 1970s.
Flickr user 7thArmyJMTC
In spite of the fact that no one has been punished for not enrolling since the 1980s, enlisting for the draft has its perks.
Draft Advantages
The Solomon Amendment and the Thurmond Amendment stipulate that in order to obtain government employment or obtain student loans, an eligible individual must be registered for the draft.
Flickr user DVIDSHUB
The provision in the bill could be interpreted as an effort to streamline the registration process by automating it on a national level rather than relying on a state-by-state basis, given that most states automatically register men for the draft when they apply for a driver’s license.
Law Progress
A bill must be approved by a majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the president must sign it in order for it to become law.
United States Senate
Up to this point, on account of H.R. 8070, however, one of these had taken place, and it wasn’t likely going to go a lot further.
House Approval
The bill that was approved by the Republican-led House contained a plethora of amendments that were likely to prevent it from passing the Democrat-led Senate.
Unsplash user Joshua Sukoff
These amendments included rollbacks on climate change protections, dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and bans on the money that was being used to provide abortion and gender-affirming care through the military’s healthcare system.
Alternate Bill
The Senate Armed Services Committee supported an alternate form of the bill, yet as indicated by reporting from Politico, it was not clear when the entire Senate would decide on that version.
Unsplash user Clay Banks
A couple of users online added a different, yet related claim: that women would also be eligible for the draft under this bill.
Female Enlisting
Female drafting is a thought that has been drifted for quite a long time. Although the Senate’s version of the bill included a provision that would require women to register for the draft, it was unlikely that this would become law anytime soon.
Unsplash user Bermix Studio
More than once in the past ten years, bills in the Senate that would have required women to register for the military have been passed, but neither those bills nor the idea of requiring women to do so has ever been successful in court.
Bill Introduction
The bill was sponsored by Republican Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama’s 3rd District.
X user RepMikeRogersAL
Rogers has been a member of the House since 2002 and is currently the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
The question of whether this bill will move forward will require considerable alterations to get Democrat approval.