[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1134 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  1st Session
                                S. 1134

          To express the sense of Congress on women in combat.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 26, 2005

Mrs. Clinton (for herself, Ms. Collins, Ms. Landrieu, Mrs. Murray, Mr. 
 Reed, and Ms. Mikulski) introduced the following bill; which was read 
         twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
          To express the sense of Congress on women in combat.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON WOMEN IN COMBAT.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Women have a prominent role in American military 
        history, with involvement as far back as the American 
        Revolution (1775-1783) when women served on the battlefield as 
        nurses, water bearers, cooks, laundresses, and saboteurs.
            (2) Opportunities for servicewomen have increased 
        dramatically since 1948, when the Women's Armed Services 
        Integration Act of 1948 (62 Stat. 356) gave women a permanent 
        place in the Armed Forces.
            (3) The Department of Defense began to expand its programs 
        on women in the Armed Forces in earnest in fiscal year 1973.
            (4) From 1973 to 2005, the number of women as a percentage 
        of the total force of the Armed Forces increased from only 2.5 
        percent to approximately 17 percent, with more than 200,000 
        women currently serving in the Armed Forces.
            (5) The admission of women to the service academies began 
        in Autumn 1976 and has increased steadily so that women 
        currently comprise approximately 16 to 19 percent of the 
        incoming class each year at the service academies.
            (6) The current policy governing the assignment of women in 
        the military is set forth in a memorandum of Secretary of 
        Defense Les Aspin, dated January 13, 1994, that excludes women 
        from assignment to units below brigade level whose primary 
        mission is to engage in direct combat on the ground. This 
        memorandum also authorizes the Armed Forces to restrict the 
        assignment of women--
                    (A) where the Secretary of the military department 
                concerned attests that the costs of appropriate 
                berthing and privacy arrangements are prohibitive;
                    (B) where units and positions are doctrinally 
                required to physically collocate and remain with direct 
                ground combat units that are closed to women;
                    (C) where units are engaged in long range 
                reconnaissance operations and Special Operations Forces 
                missions; and
                    (D) where job-related physical requirements would 
                necessarily exclude the vast majority of women service 
                members.
            (7) Section 542 of the National Defense Authorization Act 
        for Fiscal Year 1994 (10 U.S.C. 113 note) requires the 
        Secretary of Defense--
                    (A) to provide 30 days notice to Congress of any 
                proposed change to military personnel policies that 
                would open additional assignments to women; and
                    (B) to provide 90 days notice to Congress of any 
                proposed change to the ground combat exclusion policy.
            (8) More than 100,000 women have been deployed by the Armed 
        Forces in support of military operations since September 11, 
        2001.
            (9) Approximately 22,000 women are currently serving the 
        Armed Forces honorably in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 
        and Operation Enduring Freedom.
            (10) The Armed Forces, and especially the Army, are 
        struggling to meet recruiting and retention goals.
            (11) Any change in policy that would further restrict the 
        assignment of women to units or positions would place 
        additional strain on the Armed Forces and their units, and 
        would be detrimental to the morale of members of the units.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) women play a critical role in the accomplishment of the 
        mission of the Armed Forces; and
            (2) there should be no change to existing statutes, 
        regulations, or policy that would have the effect of decreasing 
        the roles or positions available to women in the Armed Forces.
                                 <all>