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.
Bill: H.R.4147 | Sponsor: Rep. Lowenthal, Alan S. (D-CA)
Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues

Summary:
This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Billie Jean King in recognition of her courageous and groundbreaking leadership advancing equal rights for women and the LGBTQ community in athletics, education, and our society.

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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Billie Jean King, born Billie Jean Moffit, on November 
        22, 1943, in Long Beach, California, was the first child of 
        Betty (nee 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 working various jobs in her neighborhood.
            (3) After becoming involved with tennis, Billie Jean 
        observed inequities within the sport and realized she could use 
        tennis as a platform--if she became number one. From then on, 
        Billie Jean was determined to become a top athlete in her 
        sport.
            (4) Billie Jean broke numerous barriers to become a number 
        one professional tennis player. She dominated women's tennis 
        with 39 Grand Slam singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles, 
        including a record 20 championships at Wimbledon. She also was 
        a member of three World TeamTennis championship 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.
            (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 
        education and sports.
            (7) During Billie Jean's career, the pay difference 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 organizations, Billie Jean harnessed the 
        energy of the women'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 player'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 earnings in a single year.
            (9) In 1972, Billie Jean was also the first tennis player 
        to be named Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson 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 Foundation. 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 defeated 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 Century'' by LIFE magazine.
            (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 Association 
        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 complex was named after a 
        woman.
            (18) Billie Jean King has received honorary degrees from 
        colleges and universities across the Nation, including the 
        University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, the University 
        of Massachusetts Amherst, and Northwestern University, amongst 
        others.
            (19) Billie Jean's commitment and tireless advocacy to 
        expand women's tennis, created groundbreaking 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 famed tennis champion duo, sisters Venus and 
        Serena Williams.
            (20) Billie Jean believes in changing hearts and minds, and 
        through her talent, tenacity, and advocacy she changed how 
        women are perceived worldwide.
            (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 
        female athlete to receive this honor.
            (22) In 2014, Billie Jean King founded an inclusive 
        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 inclusive work environments that celebrate and 
        promote diversity to increase representation, maximize our 
        efficiency, and tap into the unlimited potential of talent 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 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 tempore 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 
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.
    (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 emblems, devices, and inscriptions to be 
determined by the Secretary.

SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the 
Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal 
struck pursuant to section 2 at a price sufficient to cover the cost of 
the bronze medals (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 
and overhead expenses).

SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.

    The medals struck under this Act are national medals for purposes 
of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
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