The Senate Rules Committee has downgraded the language of the H.R. 4909 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, which proposed a requirement that women register for the draft, to exist as only a statistical study.
H.R. 4909 is set to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2017 for military activities of the Department of Defense and for military construction, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes.
Most Democrats were expected to vote in favor of adding women to the draft, but many Republicans who voiced opposition were doubtful. Former Marine Rep. Duncan Hunter, who proposed the measure but did not support it, introduced the bill to make a point. He took to the House floor and displayed graphic images of combat to show his peers that drafting women would lead to them being sent directly into harm's way.
"A draft is there to put bodies on the front lines to take the hill," Hunter said. "The draft is there to get more people to rip the enemies' throats out and kill them."
Expect the bill to have many more changes in the coming weeks.