A contentious provision in the annual defense bill requiring women to register for the military draft reportedly is worrisome for some vulnerable Senate Democrats seeking reelection in November.
The provision in the National Defense Authorization Act was advanced by the Senate Armed Services Committee this month.
"I didn't know about that," Sen. Sherrod Brown, R-Ohio, told the Washington Examiner, while Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said he was unfamiliar with the provision.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., told the Washington Examiner he'd "have to take a look at it."
"I need to try to figure out what they're doing," Tester said, the news outlet reported. "I've been more focused on making sure … that the Navy, and the Army, and Air Force, and Space Command are able to recruit who they need, and taking care of our veterans so all are volunteer, and we never have to go to a draft."
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., told the Examiner: "I have to look further into that. I just heard about it."
There hasn't been a draft since 1973 during the Vietnam War, according to the Selective Service System.
The issue is bipartisan, but it divides some Republicans as well, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who supports including women in the draft, while Sen. Roger Wicker R-Miss., opposes it, the Examiner reported.
Democrats currently hold a one-seat Senate majority.
The draft proposal has become a flashpoint in the Nevada race between incumbent Sen. Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Democrat, and Republican nominee Sam Brown, the Examiner reported.
Brown, an Army veteran whose face was severely burned from an improvised explosion device while serving in Afghanistan, highlighted his personal experience in a campaign video.
"Look at my face. This is the high cost of war," Brown says in the video.
Rosen's campaign declined to comment, the Examiner reported.
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