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SALT LAKE CITY — Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, declined to offer the amendment he has pushed to keep women out of the draft as part of the defense spending bill the U.S. Senate passed Tuesday.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., contended on the Senate floor that he gave Lee the opportunity to move the measure, but the Utah Republican turned it down because he wanted to first take up his amendment on indefinite detention of American citizens without due process.
The Senate approved the National Defense Authorization Act that includes a provision requiring women to register for the draft.
Lee blamed Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for not letting either issue — keeping women out of the draft or indefinite detention — get to the floor.
"Our nation deserves a real debate about whether or not women should be forced to register for the draft. We also are in desperate need of clarification on the constitutional rights due all Americans as we continue to combat terrorism at home and abroad," Lee said in a prepared statement.
"It is unfortunate that one senator chose to block a discussion about both of these issues."
Graham urged his colleagues to vote for a McCain amendment to add $18 billion to the National Defense Authorization Act for the overseas war budget, but the Senate voted it down. Lee was among 11 Republicans to oppose the measure.
Politico reported that Lee blocked numerous amendments from being considered on the defense bill because he wanted a chance for his amendment on indefinite detention of U.S. citizens to get a vote.
And that particularly steamed McCain, the Armed Forces Committee chairman, when an amendment to reauthorize the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program was blocked, according to Politico.
"As I take pleasure in the size of the vote, I would also urge my colleagues that when we take up a bill of this significance, not every senator can have his or her way," McCain said after the vote.
"I have to say I blame a few senators that believe it's their way or the highway."
In unveiling the Selective Service amendment last month, Lee said forcing women to register for the draft would be a dramatic change not only for the armed forces but culturally as well. It would not have prevented women from combat, but would require the Pentagon to study the issue.
While all 18- to 25-year-old men are required to register for the draft, the U.S. has relied on an all-volunteer force since the close of the Vietnam War in 1973.
On Monday, Conservative America Now, a New York-based political action committee, sent out a fundraising email with a large headline reading, "Mike Lee Wants To Stop The Government From Drafting Our Daughters!"
The email sought donations to help Lee's re-election effort with voter outreach and advertising.
Lee's other amendment sought to reinstate the due process guarantee that was stripped from the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act.
Under current law, the federal government has the power to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who are apprehended on American soil.
Lee said that means if a U.S. citizen or a green card holder is arrested for suspicion of supporting a terrorist group or other enemy, the federal government has the power to hold them without formally charging or offering them a trial.
