[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 340 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 340

   Opposing legislation mandating the registration of women for the 
                       Selective Service System.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 5, 2021

Mr. Lee (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Daines, 
and Mr. Wicker) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
                   to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Opposing legislation mandating the registration of women for the 
                       Selective Service System.

Whereas clause 12 of section 8 of article I of the Constitution of the United 
        States empowers Congress with the responsibility to ``raise and support 
        Armies'';
Whereas the Military Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.) provides 
        authority to the President to require the registration of male citizens 
        of the United States, between the ages of 18 and 26, for the Selective 
        Service System;
Whereas, when a draft for training and service in the Armed Forces has commenced 
        under the Military Selective Service Act, the primary function for 
        drafted men is to replace front line combatants after casualty losses;
Whereas, in Rostker v. Goldberg, 453 U.S. 57 (1981), the Supreme Court of the 
        United States upheld the all-male draft as constitutional and held that 
        Congress had ``determined that any future draft, which would be 
        facilitated by the registration scheme, would be characterized by a need 
        for combat troops'';
Whereas, in 2015, nearly all combat positions in the all-volunteer force within 
        the Armed Forces became open to any woman as long as the woman could 
        meet certain physical fitness requirements;
Whereas only a small subset of women are able to meet the physical fitness 
        requirements for combat roles, and physical disadvantages between men 
        and women often result in excessive fatigue and more frequent injuries 
        to women;
Whereas the Ground Combat Element Integrated Task Force within the United States 
        Marine Corps found that the musculoskeletal rate of injury for a woman 
        was nearly twice the rate of injury for a man, and research at the 
        Infantry Training Battalion found that the rate of injury for an 
        enlisted woman was 6 times the rate of injury for a man;
Whereas the results of United States Marine Corps research led General Joseph F. 
        Dunford, Jr., a former commandant of the United States Marine Corps, to 
        seek an exemption to ensure certain Marine combat roles were only 
        available to men;
Whereas all members of Congress should have the opportunity to review the 
        rationale provided by General Dunford for requesting the exemption;
Whereas, in 2018, the United States Army replaced the gender-separate Army 
        Physical Fitness Test with the gender-neutral Army Combat Fitness Test;
Whereas United States Army data has demonstrated a fail rate ranging between 65 
        percent and 84 percent for women and between 10 percent and 30 percent 
        for men on the Army Combat Fitness Test since its inception; and
Whereas mandating the registration of women for the Selective Service System has 
        the potential to unduly increase the fatality and injury risks of women 
        in the United States and hinder combat unit readiness in battle: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the Senate should 
not pass legislation mandating the registration of women for the 
Selective Service System.
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