I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2014 
To award a congressional gold medal to the Women Airforce Service Pilots 
(‘‘WASP’’). 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 21, 2009 
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. BARTLETT, 
Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. 
MCCARTHY
of California, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. RYAN
of Ohio, Mrs. 
TAUSCHER, Mr. EDWARDS of Texas, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, 
Mrs. MALONEY, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. 
SNYDER, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. MASSA, Mr. STEARNS, 
Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. GOHMERT, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, 
Ms. BERKLEY, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. 
KLINE of Minnesota, Mr. KISSELL, Mr. ROONEY, Mr. SPRATT, Mrs. 
KIRKPATRICK of Arizona, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. BUCHANAN, 
Mr. CALVERT, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. WOLF, Mr. ALEX-
ANDER, Mr. TURNER, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. SAM 
JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. SCALISE, Ms. WOOLSEY, 
Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. TITUS, Mr. FILNER, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. HALL 
of Texas, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. ESHOO, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. CONNOLLY of 
Virginia, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. YOUNG of Florida, Mr. ROTH-
MAN of New Jersey, Mrs. CAPITO, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. KLEIN of Florida, 
Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. ROE of Ten-
nessee, Ms. FALLIN, Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. BRADY of 
Texas, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. 
CAMPBELL, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Ms. HARMAN, 
Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. BONNER, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Ms. 
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Mr. 
MANZULLO, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. MACK, Mr. WEINER, Mr. 
CRENSHAW, Mr. SCHOCK, Mr. LEE of New York, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. 
UPTON, Mr. CLAY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. 
MARCHANT, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. SHULER, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. 
BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. EHLERS, 
Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. YOUNG 
of Alaska, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. MCKEON, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. RADANOVICH, 
Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. TANNER, Mr. MCCLIN-
TOCK, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. MEEK 
of Florida, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Ms. MOORE of Wis-
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consin, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. SESSIONS, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of 
Florida, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. REYES, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. OBERSTAR, 
Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. 
GUTIERREZ, Mr. TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN, 
Mr. ADLER of New Jersey, Mr. WU, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. 
SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. DREIER, Mr. SMITH of New Jer-
sey, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. LANCE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 
BARROW, Mrs. BONO MACK, Mr. PIERLUISI, Mr. CARTER, Mr. OLVER, 
Mr. MORAN of Kansas, Mr. CAO, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. 
MORAN of Virginia, Mrs. LUMMIS, and Mr. ADERHOLT) 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 consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To award a congressional gold medal to the Women Airforce 
Service Pilots (‘‘WASP’’). 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that— 
(1) the Women Airforce Service Pilots of 
WWII, known as the ‘‘WASP’’, were the first women 
in history to fly American military aircraft; 
(2) more than 60 years ago, they flew fighter, 
bomber, transport, and training aircraft in defense 
of America’s freedom; 
(3) they faced overwhelming cultural and gen-
der bias against women in nontraditional roles and 
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overcame multiple injustices and inequities in order 
to serve their country; 
(4) through their actions, the WASP eventually 
were the catalyst for revolutionary reform in the in-
tegration of women pilots into the Armed Services; 
(5) during the early months of World War II, 
there was a severe shortage of combat pilots; 
(6) Jacqueline Cochran, America’s leading 
woman pilot of the time, convinced General Hap Ar-
nold, Chief of the Army Air Forces, that women, if 
given the same training as men, would be equally ca-
pable of flying military aircraft and could then take 
over some of the stateside military flying jobs, there-
by releasing hundreds of male pilots for combat 
duty; 
(7) the severe loss of male combat pilots made 
the necessity of utilizing women pilots to help in the 
war effort clear to General Arnold, and a women’s 
pilot training program was soon approved; 
(8) it was not until August 1943, that the 
women aviators would receive their official name; 
(9) General Arnold ordered that all women pi-
lots flying military aircraft, including 28 civilian 
women ferry pilots, would be named ‘‘WASP’’, 
Women Airforce Service Pilots; 
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(10) more than 25,000 American women ap-
plied for training, but only 1,830 were accepted and 
took the oath; 
(11) exactly 1,074 of those trainees successfully 
completed the 21 to 27 weeks of Army Air Force 
flight training, graduated, and received their Army 
Air Force orders to report to their assigned air base; 
(12) on November 16, 1942, the first class of 
29 women pilots reported to the Houston, Texas 
Municipal Airport and began the same military 
flight training as the male Army Air Force cadets 
were taking; 
(13) due to a lack of adequate facilities at the 
airport, 3 months later the training program was 
moved to Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas; 
(14) WASP were eventually stationed at 120 
Army air bases all across America; 
(15) they flew more than 60,000,000 miles for 
their country in every type of aircraft and on every 
type of assignment flown by the male Army Air 
Force pilots, except combat; 
(16) WASP assignments included test piloting, 
instructor piloting, towing targets for air-to-air gun-
nery practice, ground-to-air anti-aircraft practice, 
ferrying, transporting personnel and cargo (includ-
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ing parts for the atomic bomb), simulated strafing, 
smoke laying, night tracking, and flying drones; 
(17) in October 1943, male pilots were refusing 
to fly the B–26 Martin Marauder (known as the 
‘‘Widowmaker’’) because of its fatality records, and 
General Arnold ordered WASP Director, Jacqueline 
Cochran, to select 25 WASP to be trained to fly the 
B–26 to prove to the male pilots that it was safe to 
fly; 
(18) during the existence of the WASP— 
(A) 38 women lost their lives while serving 
their country; 
(B) their bodies were sent home in poorly 
crafted pine boxes; 
(C) their burial was at the expense of their 
families or classmates; 
(D) there were no gold stars allowed in 
their parents’ windows; and 
(E) because they were not considered mili-
tary, no American flags were allowed on their 
coffins; 
(19) in 1944, General Arnold made a personal 
request to Congress to militarize the WASP, and it 
was denied; 
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(20) on December 7, 1944, in a speech to the 
last graduating class of WASP, General Arnold said, 
‘‘You and more than 900 of your sisters have shown 
you can fly wingtip to wingtip with your brothers. I 
salute you . . . We of the Army Air Force are proud 
of you. We will never forget our debt to you.’’; 
(21) with victory in WWII almost certain, on 
December 20, 1944, the WASP were quietly and 
unceremoniously disbanded; 
(22) there were no honors, no benefits, and very 
few ‘‘thank you’s’’; 
(23) just as they had paid their own way to 
enter training, they had to pay their own way back 
home after their honorable service to the military; 
(24) the WASP military records were imme-
diately sealed, stamped ‘‘classified’’ or ‘‘secret’’, and 
filed away in Government archives, unavailable to 
the historians who wrote the history of WWII or the 
scholars who compiled the history text books used 
today, with many of the records not declassified 
until the 1980s; 
(25) consequently, the WASP story is a missing 
chapter in the history of the Air Force, the history 
of aviation, and the history of the United States of 
America; 
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(26) in 1977, 33 years after the WASP were 
disbanded, the Congress finally voted to give the 
WASP the veteran status they had earned, but these 
heroic pilots were not invited to the signing cere-
mony at the White House, and it was not until 7 
years later that their medals were delivered in the 
mail in plain brown envelopes; 
(27) in the late 1970s, more than 30 years 
after the WASP flew in World War II, women were 
finally permitted to attend military pilot training in 
the United States Armed Forces; 
(28) thousands of women aviators flying sup-
port aircraft have benefitted from the service of the 
WASP and followed in their footsteps; 
(29) in 1993, the WASP were once again ref-
erenced during congressional hearings regarding the 
contributions that women could make to the mili-
tary, which eventually led to women being able to fly 
military fighter, bomber, and attack aircraft in com-
bat; 
(30) hundreds of United States servicewomen 
combat pilots have seized the opportunity to fly 
fighter aircraft in recent conflicts, all thanks to the 
pioneering steps taken by the WASP; 
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(31) the WASP have maintained a tight-knit 
community, forged by the common experiences of 
serving their country during war; 
(32) as part of their desire to educate America 
on the WASP history, WASP have assisted ‘‘Wings 
Across America’’, an organization dedicated to edu-
cating the American public, with much effort aimed 
at children, about the remarkable accomplishments 
of these WWII veterans; and 
(33) the WASP have been honored with exhibits 
at numerous museums, to include— 
(A) the Smithsonian Institution, Wash-
ington, DC; 
(B) the Women in Military Service to 
America Memorial at Arlington National Ceme-
tery, Arlington, Virginia; 
(C) the National Museum of the United 
States Air Force, Wright Patterson Air Force 
Base, Ohio; 
(D) the National WASP WWII Museum, 
Sweetwater, Texas; 
(E) the 8th Air Force Museum, Savannah, 
Georgia; 
(F) the Lone Star Flight Museum, Gal-
veston, Texas; 
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(G) the American Airpower Museum, 
Farmingdale, New York; 
(H) the Pima Air Museum, Tucson, Ari-
zona; 
(I) the Seattle Museum of Flight, Seattle, 
Washington; 
(J) the March Air Museum, March Reserve 
Air Base, California; and 
(K) the Texas State History Museum, 
Austin, Texas. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The President pro tem-
pore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives shall make appropriate arrangements for the 
award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold medal 
of appropriate design in honor of the Women Airforce 
Service Pilots (WASP) collectively, in recognition of their 
pioneering military service and exemplary record, which 
forged revolutionary reform in the Armed Forces of the 
United States of America. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 
award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 
Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’) shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, 
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devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec-
retary. 
(c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 
gold medal in honor of the Women Airforce Service 
Pilots, the gold medal shall be given to the Smithso-
nian Institution, where it will be displayed as appro-
priate and made available for research. 
(2) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense 
of the Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 
shall make the gold medal received under this Act 
available for display elsewhere, particularly at other 
locations associated with the WASP. 
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 under this Act, at a price 
sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 
materials, dyes, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 
SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 
Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national med-
als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 
Code. 
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SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS 
OF SALE. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 
Public Enterprise Fund, an amount not to exceed $30,000 
to pay for the cost of the medal authorized under section 
2. 
(b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 
sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be 
deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 
Fund. 
Æ 
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