Two lawmakers are proposing that the Selective Service System, the law that requires males aged 18 to 25 to register for the draft, be abolished, making the military an all-volunteer force, reports the International Business Times.
Reps. Peter DeFazio and Rep. Mike Coffman say that the millions of dollars the agency spends on the possibility of a military draft is a waste of money, especially due to the success of an all-volunteer army. The Selective Service has a budget of $24 million and a full time staff of 130, but there hasn’t been a draft since 1973.
“There is no one who wants this except chicken hawk members of Congress,” DeFazio says.
The term chicken hawk refers to a person who pushes for military forces, but has never served in the military themselves.
Currently, men between the ages of 18 and 25 are required by law to register for the Selective Service and failure to do so can result in a felony charge. But at the same time, a push could be coming to expand the military draft registration to women as well as men, according to the Clarion Ledger. A recent decision lifted the ban on women in front-line combat positions and doing so makes it difficult for anyone to make an argument that women should remain exempt from the registration.
“They’re going to have to show that excluding women from the draft actually improves military readiness,” Diane Mazur, a law professor at the University of Florida and a former Air Force officer, said. “I just don’t see how you can make that argument.”
It looks like the Selective Service System is going to see some major changes in the near future and in this case, it’s going to be all or nothing.