I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4682 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Mercury 13, in recognition 
of their historic accomplishments and their work for gender equity, 
and in recognition of their important example of women in STEM fields. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 17, 2023 
Ms. HOULAHAN (for herself, Mrs. KIM of California, Ms. STEVENS, Mrs. 
LESKO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. JOHNSON
of Georgia, Ms. ROSS, Mr. 
MOSKOWITZ, Ms. DELBENE, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. ALLRED, and 
Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on 
House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Mercury 13, 
in recognition of their historic accomplishments and their 
work for gender equity, and in recognition of their impor-
tant example of women in STEM fields. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mercury 13 Congres-
sional Gold Medal Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Mercury 13 was a group of women who 
participated in the First Lady Astronaut Trainees 
(FLATs) Program, a privately funded project test-
ing women pilots for astronaut fitness in the 1960s. 
(2) These women underwent the same psycho-
logical and physical testing that Dr. William Ran-
dolph Lovelace was simultaneously putting male pi-
lots through to determine their candidacy for space 
travel as part of the NASA Mercury Project. 
(3) Members of the Mercury 13, though their 
training was not part of the NASA program, out-
performed the Mercury 7 astronauts chosen for 
space travel in certain tests, and these women paved 
the way for other women in space. 
(4) None of the members of the Mercury 13 
were ever able to go to space due to gender barriers, 
but they opened the door for female pilots and astro-
nauts down the line. 
(5) Two of the women, Geraldyn ‘‘Jerrie’’ Cobb 
and Jane ‘‘Janey’’ Briggs Hart, spoke at a Congres-
sional Hearing before the Subcommittee of the 
House Committee on Science and Astronautics to 
advocate for the continuation of their program, 
which led to an investigation into discrimination on 
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the basis of sex two years before the Civil Rights Act 
was passed. 
(6) A motion to honor these women was in-
cluded in the Congressional Record in 2007 during 
the 110th Congress. The resolution, H. Res. 421, 
honored the trailblazing accomplishments of the 
Mercury 13 and encouraged young women to follow 
in their footsteps and pursue careers in aviation, as-
tronautics, engineering, and science. 
(7) The Mercury 13 are: 
(A) Myrtle ‘‘K’’ Cagle. 
(B) Geraldyn ‘‘Jerrie’’ Cobb. 
(C) Jan Dietrich. 
(D) Marion Dietrich. 
(E) Mary Wallace ‘‘Wally’’ Funk. 
(F) Jane ‘‘Janey’’ Briggs Hart. 
(G) Jean Hixson. 
(H) Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen. 
(I) Irene Leverton. 
(J) Sarah Lee Gorelick Ratley. 
(K) Bernice Trimble Steadman. 
(L) Geraldine ‘‘Jerri’’ Sloan Truhill. 
(M) Rhea Hurrle Allison Woltman. 
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