Forces of the United States in a capacity considered 
civilian employment or contractual service at the 
time such service was rendered’’. 
(28) On November 23, 1977, President Jimmy 
Carter signed the legislation described in paragraph 
(27) into law as the GI Bill Improvement Act of 
1977 (Public Law 95–202; 91 Stat. 1433). 
(29) The Signal Corps telephone operators ap-
plied for, and were granted, status as veterans in 
1979. 
(30) Only 33 of the operators who had returned 
home after the war were still alive to receive their 
Victory Medals and official discharge papers, which 
were finally awarded in 1979. 
(31) One of the women, Olive Shaw from Mas-
sachusetts, returned to the United States after the 
war, where she worked on the professional staff of 
Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers. Shaw lived to 
receive her honorable discharge and was the first 
burial when the Massachusetts National Cemetery 
opened on October 11, 1980. Shaw’s uniform is on 
display at the National World War I Museum and 
Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. 
(32) Upon receipt of her honorable discharge at 
a ceremony in her home in Marine City, Michigan, 
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‘‘Hello Girl’’ Oleda Joure Christides raised the paper 
to her lips and kissed it. The only thing Christides 
ever wanted from the Federal Government was a 
flag on her coffin. 
(33) On July 1, 2009, President Barack Obama 
signed into law Public Law 111–40 (123 Stat. 
1958), which awarded the WASPs the Congressional 
Gold Medal for their service to the United States. 
(34) For their role as pioneers who paved the 
way for all women in uniform, and for service that 
was essential to victory in World War I, the ‘‘Hello 
Girls’’ merit similar recognition. 
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) AWARD
AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 
House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 
of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 
award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of 
appropriate design in honor of the female telephone opera-
tors of the Army Signal Corps (commonly known as the 
‘‘Hello Girls’’), in recognition of those operators’— 
(1) pioneering military service; 
(2) devotion to duty; and 
(3) 60-year struggle for— 
(A) recognition as soldiers; and 
(B) veterans’ benefits. 
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(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 
award described in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 
Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 
strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and 
inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary. 
(c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—After the award of the gold 
medal under subsection (a), the medal shall be given 
to the Smithsonian Institution, where the medal 
shall be available for display, as appropriate, and 
made available for research. 
(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 
make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 
available elsewhere, particularly at— 
(A) appropriate locations associated with— 
(i) the Army Signal Corps; 
(ii) the Women in Military Service for 
America Memorial; 
(iii) the U.S. Army Women’s Museum; 
and 
(iv) the National World War I Mu-
seum and Memorial; and 
(B) any other location determined appro-
priate by the Smithsonian Institution. 
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SEC. 4. 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 under section 3 at a price 
sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 
SEC. 5. NATIONAL MEDALS. 
(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—Medals struck under this 
Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 
31, United States Code. 
(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 
5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 
under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 
SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 
SALE. 
(a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 
authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 
Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec-
essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 
this Act. 
(b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 
sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 
4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 
Enterprise Fund. 
Æ 
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