[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 140 (Thursday, August 5, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S5952]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 340--OPPOSING LEGISLATION MANDATING THE REGISTRATION 
               OF WOMEN FOR THE SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM

  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:

                              S. Res. 340

       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 women 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 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 Selective Service System.

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