This has been a historic year of firsts for women in the U.S. military. The military has welcomed the first women Army Rangers, the first woman Army infantry officer, the first Marine enlisted infantry women and the first woman combatant commander.

Amidst these momentous changes, Congress has debated – almost against its will – the future of Selective Service registration and the military draft. While the Senate approved the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act with an amendment that would require women to register for Selective Service, the House did not. The Senate and House are now at odds on whether the issue is important enough to be included in the final version of the legislation.

We strongly encourage Congress to confront this issue directly in the upcoming conference committee, and recommend that they support the inclusion of women in the Selective Service system. If they are not willing to support this change, then we encourage them to at a minimum explore the role of the Selective Service system at a time when gender is no longer a barrier to national service.

While we celebrate the extraordinary accomplishments of women who blazed new trails in the military in 2016, we fully recognize that a culture of inclusion in the military can only exist if all practices, laws and regulations that create or imply partiality or bias to a specific category of people are eliminated.

Instead of relying on emotional rhetoric about female frailty or obligations to protect our daughters, we must be willing to view the problem in logical terms.

The truth is that no one wants young men or young women to be drafted against their will and sent to war. But as the saying goes, "If you want peace, prepare for war." Today, the threats to our national security are complex and numerous. Our nation's military leaders are currently in the process of accepting that service women can compete for every job, and that such opportunity will make the military more capable of meeting contemporary and future threats.

If a draft were ever to occur, the question must be asked, what would we missing if we excluded women? With 71 percent of the nation's youth unfit for military service, the exclusion of qualified women from compulsory service during a time of war would severely limit our access to qualified citizens and possibly put our nation at significant risk.

If women meet existing high standards for service and enjoy all of the benefits of citizenship in time of peace, they must be equally responsible for defending the nation in a time of war. We cannot expect full equality if we continue to support a Selective Service that only requires compulsory service by men. With the newly opened opportunities for women to serve in ground combat roles we must acknowledge the inconsistency presented by the current restriction against women registering for selective service, and demand change.

The Service Women's Action Network supports requiring women to register. We believe that men and women should be held to the same standards and expectations for the performance of their duties, whether as members of the military or as American citizens.

At the same time, as the voice of service women, we believe that our military is currently well supported by its all-volunteer force and is not in danger of becoming dependent on a draft. Given changes in society and technology, we also would welcome a robust debate on whether it is time to abolish Selective Service registration entirely.

Yes, women are daughters, wives, sisters and mothers. But they are also soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and American citizens from every walk of life. Ultimately, facts, not emotions, must rule the day when it comes to deciding what is best for national defense.

If Selective Service is still deemed necessary, requiring women to register for the draft will remove a final barrier to full citizenship and will go far to eliminate the existing perception in the military that there are double standards for women. Most importantly, the change will ensure that our national security remains in the hands of the most qualified individuals, and that the ultimate sacrifice of death in combat is borne equitably by all citizens, regardless of race, socioeconomic background or gender.