[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 449 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 449
Honoring women in the United States for their service in World War II
and recognizing the role of Representative Edith Nourse Rogers in
establishing the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and the Women's Army
Corps.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 28, 2021
Ms. Clark of Massachusetts (for herself, Mrs. Rodgers of Washington,
Ms. Houlahan, Mrs. Wagner, Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Bacon, Mrs. Luria, Ms.
Cheney, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Ms. Speier, and Mrs. Miller-
Meeks) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Honoring women in the United States for their service in World War II
and recognizing the role of Representative Edith Nourse Rogers in
establishing the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and the Women's Army
Corps.
Whereas during World War II (referred to in this preamble as the ``War''),
despite social stigmas against women serving in uniform, women in the
United States served in the Armed Forces in vast numbers;
Whereas Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers of Massachusetts introduced
legislation to create the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (referred to in
this preamble as the ``WAAC'') in May 1941, which was signed into law by
President Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 15, 1942;
Whereas the first director of the WAAC, Oveta Culp Hobby, was sworn in on May
16, 1942, and shortly thereafter began the process of recruiting women
to join the WAAC, which garnered over 35,000 applications for an
anticipated 1,000 available positions;
Whereas the first recruits for the newly created WAAC arrived at the first
training center on July 20, 1942, with 125 enlisted women and 440
officer candidates, 40 of whom were Black;
Whereas, during the War, women serving in the Army in the WAAC and the Women's
Army Corps (referred to in this preamble as the ``WAC'') performed
duties traditionally performed by men;
Whereas, in unspoken recognition of the value of their services, the Army
removed the auxiliary status of the WAAC units in 1943, which gave women
all of the rank, privileges, and benefits of male soldiers;
Whereas almost \1/2\ of the members of the WAC during the War served in the Army
Air Forces as officers and enlisted personnel, with duties including
radio operator, photographer, and flight clerk;
Whereas 7,315 of those members of the Army Air Forces WAC were serving overseas
in all theaters of the War in January 1945;
Whereas, at the end of the War, 657 women were honored for their service in the
WAAC and the WAC, receiving medals and citations, including the
Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Air Medal, the
Soldiers' Medal for heroic action, the Purple Heart, and the Bronze
Star;
Whereas, in 1946, the Army requested that Congress establish the WAC as a
permanent part of the Army, perhaps the single greatest indication of
the value of women in the Army to the effort of the United States in the
War;
Whereas, during the War, women served with the Army Air Forces in the Women's
Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, the Women's Flying Training Detachment, and
the Women Air Force Service Pilots (referred to in this preamble as
``WASPs'');
Whereas women serving with the Army Air Forces--
(1) ferried planes from factories to airfields;
(2) performed test flights of repaired aircraft towed targets used in
live gunnery practice; and
(3) performed a variety of other duties traditionally performed by men;
Whereas women pilots flew more than 70 types of military aircraft, from open-
cockpit primary trainers to P-51 Mustangs, B-26 Marauders, and B-29
Superfortresses;
Whereas, from September 10, 1942, to December 20, 1944, 1,074 WASPs flew an
aggregate 60,000,000 miles in wartime service;
Whereas, although WASPs were promised military classification, they were
classified as civilians, and the 38 WASPs who died in the line of duty
were regrettably buried without military honors;
Whereas WASPs did not receive official status as military veterans until March
1979, when WASP units were formally recognized as components of the Air
Force;
Whereas, during the War, women in the Navy served in the Women Accepted for
Volunteer Emergency Service (referred to in this preamble as ``WAVES'');
Whereas, approximately 90,000 WAVES served the Navy in a variety of capacities
and in such numbers that, according to a Navy estimate, enough sailors
were freed for combat duty to crew the ships of 4 major task forces,
each including a battleship, 2 large aircraft carriers, 2 heavy
cruisers, 4 light cruisers, and 15 destroyers;
Whereas WAVES who served in naval aviation taught instrument flying, aircraft
recognition, celestial navigation, aircraft gunnery, radio, radar, air
combat information, and air fighter administration, but were not allowed
to be pilots;
Whereas, at the end of the War, Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal stated
that members of the WAVES ``have exceeded performance of men in certain
types of work, and the Navy Department considers it to be very desirable
that these important services rendered by women during the war should
likewise be available in postwar years ahead'';
Whereas, during the War, women served in the Marine Corps Women's Reserve;
Whereas more than 23,000 women served at shore establishments of the Marine
Corps, and by the end of the War, 85 percent of the enlisted personnel
assigned to Headquarters Marine Corps were women;
Whereas, during the War, women were assigned to over 200 different specialties
in the Marine Corps and, by performing those duties, freed other Marines
for active duty to fight;
Whereas, during the War, women served in the Coast Guard Women's Reserve
(referred to in this preamble as ``SPARs'');
Whereas more than 10,000 women volunteered for service with the Coast Guard
during the period from 1942 through 1946, and when the Coast Guard was
at the peak of its strength during the War, 1 out of every 16 members of
the Coast Guard was a SPAR;
Whereas the SPARs who attended the Coast Guard Academy were the first women in
the United States to attend a military academy;
Whereas, by the end of the War, more than 400,000 women had served the United
States in military capacities;
Whereas those women who served, despite their merit and the recognized value and
importance of their contributions to the effort of the United States
during the War--
(1) were not given status equal to their male counterparts; and
(2) struggled for years to receive the appreciation of Congress and the
people of the United States;
Whereas those women helped to catalyze the social, demographic, and economic
evolutions that occurred after the War and that continue to this day;
and
Whereas those pioneering women are owed a great debt of gratitude for their
service to the United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) honors the women who served the United States in
military capacities during World War II;
(2) commends those women who, through a sense of duty and
willingness to defy stereotypes and social pressures, performed
military assignments to aid the war effort, allowing for more
combat capacity;
(3) recognizes that those women, by serving with diligence
and merit, not only opened up opportunities for women that had
previously been reserved for men, but also contributed vitally
to the victory of the United States and the Allies in World War
II; and
(4) honors the contributions of Congresswoman Edith Nourse
Rogers and her fellow Members of Congress who supported the
establishment of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and the
Women's Army Corps.
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