Politics

Former Dem congressman: Women in combat should mean women in the draft [VIDEO]

Jeff Poor Media Reporter
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On Thursday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, signed an order that officially rescinded the ban on women serving in combat. Hours later on the Fox News Channel’s “Hannity, host Sean Hannity was asking former congressman Joe Sestak if women might soon have to register for the draft.

Sestak, a Pennsylvania Democrat, is a former U.S. Navy three-star admiral and reportedly a one-time candidate to be Obama’s Navy Secretary.

“In Rostker v. Goldberg, a U.S. Supreme Court decision, they talk about the purpose for example, of the Selective Service system and Congress’s decision to exempt women from registration,” Hannity explained. “They go into, ‘since women are excluded from combat, Congress concluded that they would not be needed in the event of a draft.'”

“Does that mean that maybe now that gets revisited? Would you want women now to have to register for the Selective Service system, and our daughters, equally, to have to go to war?”

“Absolutely, yes,” Sestak responded, saying that opening the draft to women could ensure that the best people are serving.

“Sean, that’s a great question and I have a daughter,” Sestak said. “My answer is absolutely, yes … for a big practical reason: I want the best out there. Look, only 22 percent of the youth that graduate from high school today qualify physically for the military. And 60 percent of those who go to boot camp don’t pass the physical standards.”

“If we could have an Olympian like [Volleyball Gold Medalist] Misty May, man, it would be great.”

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