I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1831 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2023 

Mr. FITZPATRICK (for himself, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. LAWLER, Mr. ROBERT

GARCIA of California, Ms. MALLIOTAKIS, Mr. CORREA, Mr. MIKE GARCIA

of California, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mrs. KIM of California, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mrs. STEEL, Ms. MENG, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, and Mr. 

GOTTHEIMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

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

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


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1 demonstrated athletic prowess from a young age. 

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

3 soon after, Billie Jean purchased her first tennis 

4 racket using money she earned working various jobs 

5 in her neighborhood. 

6 (2) Billie Jean broke numerous barriers to be7 come a number one professional tennis player. She 

8 dominated women’s tennis with 39 Grand Slam sin9 gles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles, including a 

10 record 20 championships at Wimbledon. She also 

11 was a member of 3 World TeamTennis champion12 ship teams. 

13 (3) After growing in prominence, Billie Jean 

14 used her platform as a celebrity to fight for equal 

15 rights and opportunities for equality for all in 

16 sports—and society—in the United States. 

17 (4) Billie Jean played an instrumental role in 

18 the passage of Title IX, a law that mandates equal 

19 funding for women’s and men’s sports programs in 

20 schools and colleges. This legislation has unlocked a 

21 world of opportunities for girls and women in edu22 cation and sports. 

23 (5) During Billie Jean’s career, the pay dif24 ference between prize money for men and women in 

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


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1 pay gap in prize money reached ratios of as much 

2 as 12 to 1. Fewer and fewer tournaments were 

3 hosting women’s events. Billie Jean harnessed the 

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

5 women’s tennis tour that would elevate women’s ten6 nis and establish pay equity within the sport. Along 

7 with 8 other women tennis players, she formed an 

8 independent women’s professional tennis circuit, the 

9 Virginia Slims Series. 

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

11 Tennis Association, today’s principal governing body 

12 for women’s professional tennis. 

13 (7) Billie Jean helped found womenSports mag14 azine and founded the Women’s Sports Foundation. 

15 Both have been at the forefront of advancing wom16 en’s voice in sports. 

17 (8) Billie Jean successfully lobbied for equal 

18 prize money for men and women at the 1973 U.S. 

19 Open Tennis Championships. It would take another 

20 34 years for the other 3 major tournaments to all 

21 offer equal prize money. 

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

23 against Bobby Riggs, a former World Number 1 

24 player who sought to undermine the credibility and 

25 prominence of women in sports. Billie Jean defeated 


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

2 role in sports and society. 

3 (10) Billie Jean King was the first tennis play4 er and woman to be named Sports Illustrated’s 

5 Sportsperson of the Year, one of the ‘‘100 Most Im6 portant Americans of the 20th Century’’ by LIFE 

7 magazine, was the recipient of the 1999 Arthur 

8 Ashe Award for Courage, and has been admitted to 

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

10 International Tennis Hall of Fame, and the National 

11 Women’s Hall of Fame. 

12 (11) In 2006, the United States Tennis Asso13 ciation recognized Billie Jean’s immeasurable impact 

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

15 US Open in her honor as the USTA Billie Jean 

16 King National Tennis Center, which is located in 

17 Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New 

18 York. This was the first time a major sporting com19 plex was named after a woman. 

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

21 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest 

22 civilian honor, by President Barack Obama for her 

23 impactful work advocating for the rights of women. 

24 She was the first female athlete to receive this 

25 honor. 


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1 (13) In 2014, Billie Jean King founded the Bil2 lie Jean King Leadership Initiative to empower com3 panies and individuals to create inclusive work envi4 ronments that celebrate and promote diversity and 

5 equality in the workplace. 

6 (14) In 2020, Fed Cup, the world cup of wom7 en’s tennis, was renamed the Billie Jean King Cup, 

8 making it the first global team competition to be 

9 named after a woman. 

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

11 leadership, and activism helped propel the women’s 

12 movement forward, and open doors for countless 

13 Americans. On and off the court, Billie Jean has 

14 served as an inspiration to millions of people the 

15 world over. Few women and men have had a greater 

16 impact on their sport and on our society than Billie 

17 Jean King. 

18 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

19 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

20 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem21 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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

23 medal of appropriate design, to Billie Jean King, in rec24 ognition of her contribution to the Nation and her couraVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1831.IH H1831

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1 geous and groundbreaking leadership advancing equal 

2 rights for women in athletics, education, and our society. 

3 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the 

4 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

5 of the Treasury (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the 

6 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em7 blems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the 

8 Secretary. 

9 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

10 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre11 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

12 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 at 

13 a price sufficient to cover the cost of the bronze medals 

14 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 

15 overhead expenses). 

16 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

17 The medals struck under this Act are national medals 

18 for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

Æ 


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