[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 419 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 419

Acknowledging and commemorating the World War II women in the Navy who 
     served in the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service 
                              (``WAVES'').


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 7, 2021

 Ms. Warren (for herself, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Ossoff, 
Mr. Wyden, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Braun, Mr. Scott of 
 South Carolina, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Wicker, and Mr. Moran) submitted the 
  following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Acknowledging and commemorating the World War II women in the Navy who 
     served in the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service 
                              (``WAVES'').

Whereas, despite social stigmas and public opinion averse to women in uniform, 
        women applied for military service in such numbers that enrollment 
        ceilings were reached within the first several years;
Whereas, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Women Accepted for 
        Volunteer Emergency Service (referred to in this preamble as ``WAVES'') 
        on July 30, 1942, when he signed the Navy Women's Reserve Act (Public 
        Law 77-538; 56 Stat. 730) into law;
Whereas, while women had served in the enlisted ranks of the Navy in a variety 
        of positions during World War I, legislation passed after World War I 
        limited women to service as nurses until the creation of the WAVES;
Whereas, during World War II, women in the United States were recruited into the 
        Armed Forces to perform military assignments so that men could be freed 
        for combat duties;
Whereas, under the direction of Lieutenant Commander (later Captain) Mildred 
        Helen McAfee, the WAVES peaked in 1945 at nearly 83,000 officers and 
        enlisted personnel, or approximately 2.5 percent of the wartime strength 
        of the Navy and was composed of women from urban and rural communities 
        across many socioeconomic backgrounds;
Whereas, the Secretary of the Navy's Annual Report Fiscal Year 1945 stated that 
        there were 8,475 officers and 74,497 enlisted WAVES serving in the 
        spring of 1945;
Whereas the WAVES worked at large and small naval commands from Florida to 
        Washington and from California to Rhode Island, as well as overseas;
Whereas the WAVES numerous and diverse contributions ranged from yeoman, 
        chauffeur, and baker to pharmacist, artist, aircraft mechanic, and 
        dental hygienist;
Whereas, during World War II, WAVES served as training instructors throughout 
        the country for newly recruited WAVES as well as thousands of aspiring 
        male naval aviators, gunners, and navigators destined for combat units;
Whereas the 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 the WAVES served the Navy in such numbers that, according to a Navy 
        estimate, enough men 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, at the end of World War II, 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, by the end of World War II, more than 400,000 women had served the 
        United States in military capacities, with every Navy aviator who 
        entered combat having received some part of his training from a WAVE;
Whereas the WAVES, despite their merit and the recognized value and importance 
        of their contributions to the war effort, were not given status equal to 
        their male counterparts, and struggled for years to receive the 
        appreciation of Congress and the people of the United States;
Whereas the WAVES helped to catalyze the social, demographic, and economic 
        evolutions that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s and continue to this 
        day; and
Whereas the pioneering women who served in the WAVES 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 the 
        Navy Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (``WAVES'') 
        during World War II;
            (2) commends the WAVES who, through a sense of duty and 
        willingness to defy stereotypes and social pressures, performed 
        military assignments to aid the war effort, with the result 
        that men were freed for combat duties; and
            (3) recognizes that the WAVES, 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.
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