[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 249 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 249

 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 27, 2021

  Ms. Duckworth (for herself, Mr. Moran, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Cotton, Ms. 
 Ernst, and Ms. Hirono) 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 Senate--
            (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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