I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6944 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Billie Jean King, in recognition 
of her contribution to the Nation and her courageous and groundbreaking 
leadership advancing equal rights for women and the LGBTQ community 
in athletics, education, and our society. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 19, 2020 
Mr. LOWENTHAL (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY 
of New York, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. NORTON, 
Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. 
SHALALA, Mr. CORREA, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. COSTA, Mr. COX 
of California, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. VARGAS, and 
Ms. JAYAPAL) 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, 
in recognition of her contribution to the Nation and 
her courageous and groundbreaking leadership advancing 
equal rights for women and the LGBTQ community in 
athletics, education, and our society. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Billie Jean King, born Billie Jean Moffit, 
on November 22, 1943, in Long Beach, California, 
was the first child of Betty (ne´e Jerman) and Bill 
Moffitt. 
(2) Billie Jean demonstrated athletic prowess 
from a young age. She was introduced to tennis at 
the age of 11, and soon after, Billie Jean purchased 
her first tennis racket using money she earned work-
ing various jobs in her neighborhood. 
(3) After becoming involved with tennis, Billie 
Jean observed inequities within the sport and real-
ized she could use tennis as a platform—if she be-
came number one. From then on, Billie Jean was 
determined to become a top athlete in her sport. 
(4) Billie Jean broke numerous barriers to be-
come a number one professional tennis player. She 
dominated women’s tennis with 39 Grand Slam sin-
gles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles, including a 
record 20 championships at Wimbledon. She also 
was a member of three World TeamTennis cham-
pionship teams. 
(5) After growing in prominence, Billie Jean 
used her platform as a celebrity to fight for equal 
rights and opportunities for equality for all genders 
in sports—and society—in the United States. 
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(6) Billie Jean played an instrumental role in 
the passage of Title IX, a law that mandates equal 
funding for women’s and men’s sports programs in 
schools and colleges. This legislation has unlocked a 
world of opportunities for girls and women in edu-
cation and sports. 
(7) During Billie Jean’s career, the pay dif-
ference between prize money for men and women in 
tennis continued to expand. By the early 1970s, the 
pay gap in prize money reached ratios of as much 
as 12 to one. Fewer and fewer tournaments were 
hosting women’s events. Realizing that she would 
not have support from mainstream tennis organiza-
tions, Billie Jean harnessed the energy of the wom-
en’s rights movement to create a women’s tennis 
tour that would elevate women’s tennis and establish 
pay equity within the sport. Along with eight other 
women tennis players, Billie Jean risked it all and 
formed an independent women’s professional tennis 
circuit, the Virginia Slims Tournament, and a play-
er’s union that would help achieve greater equality 
in prize money and recognition for women in sports. 
(8) In 1971, Billie Jean became the first 
woman in sports history to make $100,000 in earn-
ings in a single year. 
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(9) In 1972, Billie Jean was also the first ten-
nis player to be named Sports Illustrated’s Sports-
person of the Year and the first woman to receive 
the honor. 
(10) Billie Jean founded the Women’s Tennis 
Association, a successor to the Virginia Slims Series, 
and today’s principal governing body for women’s 
professional tennis. 
(11) Billie Jean helped found womenSports 
magazine and founded the Women’s Sports Founda-
tion. Both have been at the forefront of advancing 
women’s voice in sports. 
(12) In 1973, Billie Jean played a tennis match 
against Bobby Riggs, a top-ranked player through 
the 1940s who sought to undermine the credibility 
and prominence of women in sports. Billie Jean de-
feated Riggs in what became a firm declaration of 
women’s role in sports and society. 
(13) Billie Jean was one of the first women 
athletes to identify as lesbian, and has courageously 
challenged negative stereotypes and championed the 
visibility and inclusion of the LGBTQ community. 
(14) Billie Jean King was named one of the 
‘‘100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Cen-
tury’’ by LIFE magazine. 
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(15) Billie Jean King is the recipient of the 
1999 Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. 
(16) Billie Jean’s excellence has earned her 
place in the International Women’s Sports Hall of 
Fame, the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and 
the National Women’s Hall of Fame. 
(17) In 2006, the United States Tennis Asso-
ciation recognized Billie Jean’s immeasurable impact 
on the sport of tennis by renaming the site of the 
US Open in her honor as the USTA Billie Jean 
King National Tennis Center, which is located in 
Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New 
York. This was the first time a major sporting com-
plex was named after a woman. 
(18) Billie Jean King has received honorary de-
grees from colleges and universities across the Na-
tion, including the University of Pennsylvania, Dart-
mouth College, the University of Massachusetts Am-
herst, and Northwestern University, amongst others. 
(19) Billie Jean’s commitment and tireless ad-
vocacy to expand women’s tennis, created ground-
breaking opportunities, financial and otherwise, for 
women not only in tennis but across women’s sports. 
She has paved the way for others, including today’s 
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famed tennis champion duo, sisters Venus and 
Serena Williams. 
(20) Billie Jean believes in changing hearts and 
minds, and through her talent, tenacity, and advo-
cacy she changed how women are perceived world-
wide. 
(21) In 2009, Billie Jean was awarded the 
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest 
civilian honor, by President Barack Obama for her 
impactful work advocating for the rights of women 
and the LGBTQ community. She was the first fe-
male athlete to receive this honor. 
(22) In 2014, Billie Jean King founded an in-
clusive leadership non-profit organization to promote 
and transform equality in the workplace worldwide. 
The Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative aims to 
empower companies and individuals to create inclu-
sive work environments that celebrate and promote 
diversity to increase representation, maximize our ef-
ficiency, and tap into the unlimited potential of tal-
ent in our world. 
(23) Billie Jean King’s extraordinary courage, 
leadership, and activism helped propel the women’s 
movement forward, and open doors for countless 
Americans regardless of gender, race, class or sexual 
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orientation. On and off the court, Billie Jean has 
served as an inspiration to millions of people the 
world over. Few women and men have had a greater 
impact on their sport and on our society than Billie 
Jean King. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 
the House of Representatives and the President pro tem-
pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 
for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 
medal of appropriate design, to Billie Jean King, in rec-
ognition of her contribution to the Nation and her coura-
geous and groundbreaking leadership advancing equal 
rights for women and the LGBTQ community in athletics, 
education, and our society. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the 
presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 
of the Treasury (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the 
‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em-
blems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the 
Secretary. 
SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre-
scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 
bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 at 
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a price sufficient to cover the cost of the bronze medals 
(including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
overhead expenses) and the cost of the gold medal. 
SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 
The medals struck under this Act are national medals 
for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code. 
Æ 
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