Ellington

WASHINGTON (AP) — Buckling under conservative pressure, the Republican-led House Rules Committee pulled a legislative sleight of hand and stripped a provision from the annual defense policy bill that would have required women between the ages of 18 and 25 to sign up for a military draft.

The committee's chairman, Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said in a statement Tuesday the action was taken to prevent what he called a "reckless policy" from moving forward without closer study of its impact.

"I have the utmost respect and deepest appreciation for the young women who bravely volunteer to serve our country, but I am adamantly opposed to coercing America's daughters to sign up for the Selective Service at 18 years of age," Sessions said.

The Rules Committee wields substantial influence over legislation before it moves to the House floor.

The House Armed Services Committee last month voted 32-30 to require women to register. Six Republicans voted in favor of adding the provision to the defense policy bill that authorizes military spending for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

The move was triggered by the Pentagon's decision late last year to open all front-line combat jobs to women. After gender restrictions to military service were erased, the top uniformed officers in each of the military branches expressed support during congressional testimony for including women in a potential draft.

Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the Armed Services Committee's top Democrat, decried the decision to reverse the vote, calling it "a dead-of-night attempt to take an important issue off the table."

But the debate over whether women should register is far from over. The Senate Armed Services Committee voted last week to include a draft registration requirement for women in its version of the annual defense policy bill.

The Senate committee's measure calls for women to sign up with the Selective Service within 30 days of turning 18 — just as men are — beginning in January 2018, according to a summary of the legislation released by the committee.

If the draft requirement makes it through the full Senate, then the issue will have to be settled by a House-Senate conference committee.

Conservatives have warned that the move is a dangerous blurring of gender lines.