118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2861 

AN ACT 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Billie Jean King, 

an American icon, in recognition of a remarkable life 

devoted to championing equal rights for all, in sports 

and in society. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Billie Jean King Con3 gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Billie Jean King, born Billie Jean Moffitt 

7 on November 22, 1943, in Long Beach, California, 

8 demonstrated athletic prowess from a young age. 

9 She was introduced to tennis at the age of 11, and 

10 soon after, Billie Jean purchased her first tennis 

11 racket using money she earned working various jobs 

12 in her neighborhood. 

13 (2) Billie Jean broke numerous barriers to be14 come a number one professional tennis player. She 

15 dominated women’s tennis with 39 Grand Slam sin16 gles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles, including a 

17 record 20 championships at Wimbledon. She also 

18 was a member of 3 World TeamTennis champion19 ship teams. 

20 (3) After growing in prominence, Billie Jean 

21 used her platform as a celebrity to fight for equal 

22 rights and opportunities for equality for all in 

23 sports, and society, in the United States. 

24 (4) Billie Jean played an instrumental role in 

25 the passage of title IX of the Education Amend26 ments Act of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), a law 
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1 that mandates equal funding for women’s and men’s 

2 sports programs in schools and colleges. This legisla3 tion has unlocked a world of opportunities for girls 

4 and women in education and sports. 

5 (5) During Billie Jean’s career, the pay dif6 ference between prize money for men and women in 

7 tennis continued to expand. By the early 1970s, the 

8 pay gap in prize money reached ratios of as much 

9 as 12 to 1. Fewer and fewer tournaments were 

10 hosting women’s events. Billie Jean harnessed the 

11 energy of the women’s rights movement to create a 

12 women’s tennis tour that would elevate women’s ten13 nis and establish pay equity within the sport. Along 

14 with 8 other women tennis players, she formed an 

15 independent women’s professional tennis circuit, the 

16 Virginia Slims Series. 

17 (6) In 1973, Billie Jean founded the Women’s 

18 Tennis Association, today’s principal governing body 

19 for women’s professional tennis. 

20 (7) Billie Jean helped found womenSports mag21 azine and founded the Women’s Sports Foundation. 

22 Both have been at the forefront of advancing wom23 en’s voice in sports. 

24 (8) Billie Jean successfully lobbied for equal 

25 prize money for men and women at the 1973 US 
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1 Open Tennis Championships. It would take another 

2 34 years for the other 3 major tournaments to all 

3 offer equal prize money. 

4 (9) In 1973, Billie Jean played a tennis match 

5 against Bobby Riggs, a former World Number 1 

6 player who sought to undermine the credibility and 

7 prominence of women in sports. Billie Jean defeated 

8 Riggs in what became a firm declaration of women’s 

9 role in sports and society. 

10 (10) Billie Jean King was the first tennis play11 er and woman to be named Sports Illustrated’s 

12 Sportsperson of the Year, one of the ‘‘100 Most Im13 portant Americans of the 20th Century’’ by LIFE 

14 magazine, was the recipient of the 1999 Arthur 

15 Ashe Award for Courage, and has been admitted to 

16 the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame, the 

17 International Tennis Hall of Fame, and the National 

18 Women’s Hall of Fame. 

19 (11) In 2006, the United States Tennis Asso20 ciation recognized Billie Jean’s immeasurable impact 

21 on the sport of tennis by renaming the site of the 

22 US Open in her honor as the USTA Billie Jean 

23 King National Tennis Center, which is located in 

24 Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New 
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1 York. This was the first time a major sporting com2 plex was named after a woman. 

3 (12) In 2009, Billie Jean was awarded the 

4 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian 

5 honor in the United States, by President Barack 

6 Obama for her impactful work advocating for the 

7 rights of women. She was the first female athlete to 

8 receive this honor. 

9 (13) In 2014, Billie Jean King founded the Bil10 lie Jean King Leadership Initiative to empower com11 panies and individuals to create inclusive work envi12 ronments that celebrate and promote diversity and 

13 equality in the workplace. 

14 (14) In 2020, Fed Cup, the world cup of wom15 en’s tennis, was renamed the Billie Jean King Cup, 

16 making it the first global team competition to be 

17 named after a woman. 

18 (15) Billie Jean King’s extraordinary courage, 

19 leadership, and activism helped propel the women’s 

20 movement forward, and open doors for countless 

21 people in the United States. On and off the court, 

22 Billie Jean has served as an inspiration to millions 

23 of people the world over. Few women and men have 

24 had a greater impact on their sport and on our soci25 ety than Billie Jean King. 
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1 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

2 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

3 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem4 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

5 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 

6 medal of appropriate design to Billie Jean King, in rec7 ognition of her contribution to the United States and her 

8 courageous and groundbreaking leadership advancing 

9 equal rights for women in athletics, education, and our 

10 society. 

11 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 

12 presentation described in subsection (a), the Secretary of 

13 the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 

14 shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, 

15 and inscriptions to be determined by the Secretary. The 

16 design shall bear an image of, and inscription of the name 

17 of, Billie Jean King. 

18 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

19 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

20 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 at 

21 a price sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, includ22 ing labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead 

23 expenses. 
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1 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

2 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—Medals struck under this 

3 Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 

4 31, United States Code. 

5 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

6 5134 and section 5136 of title 31, United States Code, 

7 all medals struck under this Act shall be considered to 

8 be numismatic items. 

9 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

10 SALE. 

11 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 

12 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

13 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec14 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 

15 this Act. 

16 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

17 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

18 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

19 Enterprise Fund. 

Passed the Senate May 8, 2024. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2861 

AN ACT 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Billie 

rights for all, in sports and in society. a remarkable life devoted to championing equal Jean King, an American icon, in recognition of