Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Wendy McElroy
“On June 14, the House of Representatives passed a bill to automate the already mandatory registration of every male required to do so. The Senate is currently (July 10) working on a different version of the bill that requires women to register as well. Registration is not conscription itself, of course, but it is a prerequisite and often a harbinger of one. … Unfortunately, most debates about conscription today revolve around circumstantial matters, such as reaching recruitment goals, or around peripheral social controversies, such as drafting women. It didn’t used to be this way. In the mid-20th century, a remarkable decade of philosophical and moral debate about conscription occurred inside and outside of Congress. Within the House, no voice rang clearer on this issue than the four-term Representative Howard Buffett (1903–1964), to whom the iconic libertarian Murray Rothbard looked up in admiration.” (10/10/25)