Billie Jean King Congressional Gold Medal Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2861, the Billie Jean King Congressional Gold Medal Act, sponsored by Senator Gillibrand.

Today, we will vote to honor Billie Jean King's remarkable work in sports and society with the Congressional Gold Medal.

Billie Jean King broke numerous barriers to become a number one tennis player, and after growing in prominence, she used her platform as a celebrity to fight for equal rights and equal opportunities for women in American sports and society.

Notably, Billie Jean King played an instrumental role in the passage of Title IX, the law that mandates equal funding for women's and men's sports in American schools. Title IX unlocked opportunities for girls and women in education and sports.

I cannot help but mention Representative Mink, who served in this body. She authored Title IX, the Early Childhood Education Act, and the Women's Educational Equity Act.

During Billie Jean King's career, the pay difference between men and women for prize money continued to expand. Fewer and fewer tournaments were hosting women's events.

Billie Jean King led many efforts to elevate women's sports. Along with eight other women tennis players, she formed an independent women's professional tennis circuit called the Virginia Slims Series.

She also founded the Women's Tennis Association, which still exists today, the womenSports magazine, and the Women's Sports Foundation. All of these organizations have been instrumental in advancing women's voices in sports.

At the 1973 U.S. Open Tennis Championships, Billie Jean King successfully lobbied for equal prize money between men and women.

Billie Jean King was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009, the highest civilian honor in the United States, by President Barack Obama. The honor recognized her impactful work throughout the years in advocating for the rights of women. She was the first female athlete to receive the honor.

In 2014, Billie Jean King founded the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative to empower companies and individuals to create inclusive work environments. These inclusive work environments celebrate and promote diversity and equality.

The Fed Cup, the world cup of women's tennis, was renamed to the Billie Jean King Cup in 2020, making it the first global competition to be named after a woman.

Billie Jean King has clearly been recognized for her extraordinary courage, leadership, and activism that helped propel the women's movement forward. Today, Congress will vote to bestow its highest honor as well. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

I want you to know before I close, Billie Jean King attended my alma mater, Cal State University in Los Angeles, and she was there from 1961 to 1964, and we honored her a long time ago.

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Ms. WATERS.

Mr. Speaker, this important bill will award a Congressional Gold Medal to Billie Jean King in recognition of her remarkable work devoted to championing women's rights in sports and in society. She used her platform to fight for equal rights and opportunities for equality in sports and society.

I am very thankful to Senator Gillibrand for her work on this important bill. I cannot help but share with you today, Billie Jean King helped to inspire and also helped to ensure equal opportunities for future tennis players.

Coming from my district, where they were reared and trained to be the champions that they became, Venus and Serena Williams are beneficiaries of all of that work that Billie Jean King did to change the way prize money was equalized and to make sure that women in tennis and women in all aspects of our society have equal opportunities. I thank Billie Jean King.

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