House Panel Strikes Part of Military Defense Bill That Drafts Women

A GOP-led House committee is moving to take out language from a defense bill that would require women to register for the military draft, The Hill reports.

The House Rules Committee, headed by Texas Rep. Pete Sessions, approved a rule on Monday that strikes the language, and adds an amendment to the the National Defense Authorization Act killing the language requiring women to register, The Hill reports.

Sessions said he would even be open to studying whether draft registration is needed at all.

"I believe the Selective Service has been a very useful tool to enable our country and the military to be prepared," he said, The Hill reports. "I believe the testimony today supported an understanding that we don’t even need a draft."

The NDAA originally had language requiring the study, and Texas GOP Rep. Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has offered a separate separate amendment restoring that language, The Hill reports.

Washington Democratic Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, blasted the the Rules Committee maneuver.

"This is a dead-of-night attempt to take an important issue off the table, and I think people will probably see through this tactic," he said in a statement, The Hill reports.

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