WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin yesterday drew a reluctant House into Air Force Lt. Col. Martha McSally's fight against the Islamic dress code for U.S. military women in Saudi Arabia.
Langevin won the promise of a full House vote on his measure to scrap the regulation, which Rhode Island native McSally has challenged in federal court. His amendment would forbid the Pentagon to buy abayas for servicewomen in Saudi Arabia or compel them to wear them.
"Women make first-class soldiers and should not be treated like second-class citizens," Langevin told the House during debate on the defense budget bill for 2003.
As a practical matter, McSally had already won her point when military officials rescinded the regulation requiring female pesonnel to wear the abaya -- a traditional robe that covers women from head to toe -- when traveling off their base in Saudi Arabia.
But McSally has refused to drop her lawsuit because officials have continued to recommend strongly that women wear the abaya, chiefly as a security and safety measure.
The military has maintained that uncovered servicewomen might be in jeopardy from Saudi Arabia's religious police.
Langevin's amendment had a roller-coaster ride on the way to the House floor. On Wednesday night, key GOP members indicated to him that it would be one of the amendments allowed on the floor yesterday. Later, they voted against pemitting a vote on his measure.
But last night, Langevin won agreement for a compromise amendment that would let the military reimpose the abaya rule in certain extraordinary circumstances deemed "essential" to their military mission.
