<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2627" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=4><STRONG><FONT size=5>Panel Votes to Ban Women From
Combat<BR></FONT></STRONG><FONT size=3>Army Leaders Strongly Oppose House
Subcommittee's Action<BR></FONT>
<P><FONT size=-1>By Ann Scott Tyson<BR>Washington Post Staff Writer<BR>Thursday,
May 12, 2005; A08<BR></FONT>
<P><NITF>
<P>Brushing aside opposition from top Army leaders, a House subcommittee
approved a measure yesterday that would ban women from serving in certain
support units in a bid to keep them out of "direct ground combat."</P>
<P>The vote is likely to escalate a political debate that has simmered in
Washington since last fall over the role of women in war zones, as the
insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan have engaged women in battle and killed and
wounded female soldiers.</P>
<P>The legislation, backed by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan
Hunter (R-Calif.), would require the Army to prohibit women from serving in any
company-size unit that provides support to combat battalions or their
subordinate companies. While not retroactive, the measure, if enacted, would
block the assignment of women to thousands of positions that are now open to
them, a committee staff member said.</P>
<P>"The American people have never wanted to have women in combat and this
reaffirms that policy," Hunter said in a statement.</P>
<P>Army leaders strongly criticized the legislation in letters to Congress
yesterday, saying women are performing "magnificently" in a wide range of units,
working where battlefields have no clear front lines.</P>
<P>"The proposed amendment will cause confusion in the ranks, and will send the
wrong signal to the brave young men and women fighting the Global War on
Terrorism," Gen. Richard A. Cody, the Army's vice chief of staff, wrote in a
letter delivered to the House yesterday. "This is not the time to create such
confusion."</P>
<P>He said that the Army is in "strict and full compliance with Department of
Defense policies regarding women in combat," but that it continues to "study"
the role of women in light of an ongoing reorganization of Army units and the
complex, changing nature of warfare. Cody wrote that Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker,
the Army chief of staff, concurred with the letter, an identical version of
which was sent to the House by Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey.</P>
<P>The legislation, an amendment to the 2006 defense authorization bill, was
introduced with little advance notice yesterday after Hunter advised the
Military Personnel subcommittee late Tuesday night to vote on it, congressional
staff members said. It passed 9 to 7 along party lines.</P>
<P>The latest debate over women in combat was kindled by an Army reorganization
started last year, which created new mixed-sex "forward support companies." The
companies were designed to be located together with combat battalions so they
could provide them directly with supplies, maintenance and other support.
Critics of the change, however, including some congressional Republicans, said
it violates a 1994 Pentagon prohibition on women in units that "physically
collocate and remain with direct ground combat units."</P>
<P>The Army said it has adjusted its organization to comply with the policy on
women.</P>
<P>Subcommittee Chairman John M. McHugh (R-N.Y.) said the legislation is aimed
at enforcing a "no women in combat" policy, and denied it is a "Neanderthal
initiative to keep women out of the Army."</P>
<P>Democrats on the subcommittee, however, criticized the amendment as unfair to
women and warned that it could worsen recruitment a time when the Army is
failing to meet enlistment goals.</P>
<P>"You are sending a message that women can't do this job," said Rep. Loretta
Sanchez (D-Calif.). Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.) asked, "Can we really afford to
toss out 20 percent or more of the individuals who are serving so capably in
these units?"</P>
<P>Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) said the legislation amounted to
"discrimination" barring women from "serving in the battlefield."</P></NITF><!-- start the copyright for the articles --></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>