There was a whole lot happening in our country last week, so it's quite possible you missed word of a historic U.S. Senate vote.
It's quite possible you overlooked it, even if you glanced at the newspaper.
The headline of an Associated Press story that appeared on page 3A of the June 15 edition: "Senate approves defense bill."
What's the big deal? Aren't they always voting on stuff?
The "deck" below the headline didn't give readers much more reason to pay attention.: "$602B authorization defies president's, Pentagon's wishes."
What's the big deal? Aren't they always arguing about stuff?
Then all the way down in paragraph four, our version of the wire story finally mentions that "The legislation mandates for the first time in history that young women sign up for a potential military draft."
We'll translate for anyone who might have missed the magnitude of this major announcement given relatively minor attention.
Your.
Daughter.
Could.
Be.
Drafted.
Daughters, mothers, sisters, granddaughters, cousins, nieces, friends, neighbors -- all women between the ages of 18 and 26 -- could be drafted in the event of war beginning as early as 2018 if this bill is signed into law.
A provision in the National Defense Authorization Act, passed by an 85-to-13 Senate vote (our Republican delegation was d̶i̶v̶i̶d̶e̶d̶ united: Sen. John Boozman and Sen. Tom Cotton voted for it, w̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶S̶e̶n̶.̶ ̶T̶o̶m̶ ̶C̶o̶t̶t̶o̶n̶ ̶v̶o̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶s̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶)*, would require women to register for involuntary military service with the Selective Service, just as all male U.S. citizens and immigrants of the same age bracket are required to do.
Not that eligible women need to start spit-shining their boots and getting high-and-tight haircuts just yet.
There would first have to be some kind of congressional consensus. The section requiring women to register for the draft was stricken from the House version of the bill that passed last month.
And even if the two chambers could agree, President Barack Obama already has threatened to veto the legislation over other issues.
And even if such a bill was signed into law, the likelihood of women -- or men for that matter -- being drafted would seem slim. The nation has not had a draft since 1973 during the Vietnam War.
It's something that we probably should have seen coming. In December, Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered that all military jobs be open to women. With rights -- and didn't many of us, myself included, argue that qualified and willing women should be allowed to do any job men can do? -- come responsibilities.
Women around the world are already expected to be soldiers. Drafts apply to women as well as men in countries like Israel, Norway, North Korea and Bolivia.
Still, the idea of disinclined women as conscripts of the armed forces (emphasis on force) makes me shiver. While I don't have children, I can't fathom my friends' daughters being drafted. I think about how inept and immature I was at age 18. I struggled just being a student. How could my country have counted on me to be a soldier?
The war on this issue is far from over. And early battles have already proved fierce.
Senate Armed Services Committee member Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, voted against the bill and was quoted as saying, "Despite the many laudable objectives in this bill, I could not in good conscience vote to draft our daughters into the military, sending them off to war and forcing them into combat."
Committee Chariman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who voted in favor of the bill, disagreed, while shooting down his colleague's lack of military service: "Every uniformed leader of the United States military seemed to have a different opinion from the senator from Texas, whose military background is not extensive."
Suffice it to say, it's been a bit drafty.
Looking for a few good men and women to email:
jchristman@arkansasonline.com
What's in a Dame is a weekly report from the woman 'hood. You can hear Jennifer on Little Rock's KURB-FM, B98.5 (B98.com), from 5:30-9 a.m. Monday through Friday.
Style on 06/21/2016
*CORRECTION: The GOP-led Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act passed 85-13 on June 14, with Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, both Republicans, voting for the measure. This What’s in a Dame column reported Cotton’s vote incorrectly.