[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 17, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3176-S3177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. 
        Landrieu, Ms. Stabenow, Mrs. Lincoln, Mrs. Murray, Ms. Collins, 
        Ms. Snowe, Mrs. Boxer, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. 
        Murkowski, Ms. Klobuchar, Mrs. Hagan, Ms. Cantwell, and Mrs. 
        McCaskill):
  S. 614. A bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Women 
Airforce Service Pilots (``WASP''); to the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill that 
is sponsored by every woman in the Senate. All 17 of us have come 
together to introduce legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal 
to the Women Airforce Service Pilots, called the WASP. Senator Mikulski 
and I are taking the lead on this with the other 15 women Senators to 
finally honor over 1,000 of the bravest, most courageous women in U.S. 
military history.
  This is a picture of those brave World War II pilots. They were the 
first women in history to fly America's military aircraft. Between 1942 
and 1944, they were recruited to fly non-combat missions so every 
available male pilot could be deployed in combat.
  The women pilots who graduated from Army Air Force flight training 
earned their silver WASP wings in Texas. The first class graduated at 
Ellington Field in Houston and the remaining classes from Avenger Field 
in Sweetwater, TX.
  Throughout their service, these courageous women flew over 60 million 
miles in every type of aircraft and on every type of mission flown by 
Army Air Force male pilots except direct combat missions. Although they 
took the military oath and were promised military status when they 
entered training, they were never afforded Active-Duty military status, 
were never commissioned, and were not granted veteran status until 
1977, over 30 years after they had served. All these women volunteered 
to serve their country in wartime. They paid their own way to Texas for 
training, and when victory seemed certain and the program was shut 
down, they paid their own way back home.
  Over 25,000 women applied for the program, but only 1,830 qualified 
women pilots were accepted. Unlike the males, females were required to 
be qualified pilots before they could even apply for the Army Air 
Force's military flight training program. By the time the war ended, 38 
women pilots had lost their lives while flying for their country. Their 
families were not allowed to have an American flag placed on their 
coffins.
  I wrote about the WASP in my 2004 book, ``American Heroines: The 
Spirited Women Who Shaped Our Country.'' I wanted to raise public 
awareness about these military pioneers who have had a tremendous 
impact on the role of women in the military today. Their examples paved 
the way for the Armed Forces to lift the ban on women attending 
military flight training in the 1970s and opened the door for women to 
be fully integrated as pilots in the Armed Forces.
  Today, women fly every type of aircraft, from combat fighter aircraft 
to the space shuttle. However, despite their cultural impact, the WASP 
have never received honors, nor have they been formally recognized by 
Congress for their wartime military service--until now. We, the women 
of the Senate, are introducing legislation to award the Congressional 
Gold Medal to the courageous WASP of World War II.
  The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest and most distinguished 
award this body can award to a civilian. These women are certainly 
worthy.
  There are precedents for this action. In 2000 and 2006, this body 
awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to the Navajo Code Talkers and the 
Tuskegee Airmen, respectively. Those heroes deserved the same type of 
distinction, and they, too, served in World War II and were finally 
appropriately honored by their Government. Now it is time for Congress 
to celebrate the courage of another group of remarkable Americans who 
served with courage and honor and whose example brought historic change 
to our Nation. Of the 1,102 WASP, approximately 300 are still alive 
today and are living in almost every State of our Nation. They have 
earned this honor, and the time to bestow the honor is now before any 
of them are away from us and not able to come to the ceremony which I 
hope we will have.
  I am so pleased that every female Senator, all 17 of us, are 
cosponsors of this bill, and I hope the rest of our colleagues will 
also join and that we can pass this bill expeditiously.
  I would like to take a moment, with this wonderful picture in the 
background, to read from the bill that we have just introduced today:

       Congress finds that--
       (1) the Women Airforce Service Pilots of WWII, known as the 
     ``WASP'', were the first women in history to fly American 
     military aircraft;
       (2) more than 60 years ago, they flew fighter, bomber, 
     transport, and training aircraft in defense of America's 
     freedom;
       (3) they faced overwhelming cultural and gender bias 
     against women in nontraditional roles and overcame multiple 
     injustices and inequities in order to serve their country;
       (4) through their actions, the WASP eventually were the 
     catalyst for revolutionary reform in the integration of women 
     pilots into the Armed Services;
       (5) during the early months of World War II, there was a 
     severe shortage of combat pilots;
       (6) Jacqueline Cochran, America's leading woman pilot of 
     the time, convinced General Hap Arnold, Chief of the Army Air 
     Forces, that women, if given the same training as men, would 
     be equally capable of flying military aircraft and could then 
     take over some of the stateside military flying jobs, thereby 
     releasing hundreds of male pilots for combat duty;
       (7) the severe loss of male combat pilots made the 
     necessity of utilizing women pilots to help in the war effort 
     clear to General Arnold, and a women's pilot training program 
     was soon approved;
       (8) it was not until August, 1943, that the women aviators 
     would receive their official name;
       (9) General Arnold ordered that all women pilots flying 
     military aircraft, including 28 civilian women ferry pilots, 
     would be named ``WASP'', Women Airforce Service Pilots;
       (10) more than 25,000 American women applied for training, 
     but only 1,830 were accepted and took the oath;
       (11) exactly 1,074 of those trainees successfully completed 
     the 21 to 27 weeks of Army Air Force flight training, 
     graduated, and received their Army Air Force orders to report 
     to their assigned air base;
       (12) on November 16, 1942, the first class of 29 women 
     pilots reported to the Houston, Texas Municipal Airport and 
     began the same military flight training as the male Army Air 
     Force cadets were taking;
       (13) due to a lack of adequate facilities at the airport, 3 
     months later the training program was moved to Avenger Field 
     in Sweetwater, Texas;
       (14) WASP were eventually stationed at 120 Army air bases 
     all across America;
       (15) they flew more than 60,000,000 miles for their country 
     in every type of aircraft and on every type of assignment 
     flown by the male Army Air Force pilots, except combat;
       (16) WASP assignments included test piloting, instructor 
     piloting, towing targets for air-to-air gunnery practice, 
     ground-to-air anti-aircraft practice, ferrying, transporting 
     personnel and cargo (including parts for the atomic bomb), 
     simulated strafing, smoke laying, night tracking, and flying 
     drones;

  In October 1943, male pilots were refusing to fly the B-26 Martin 
Marauder, known as the Widowmaker, because of its fatality record. 
General Arnold ordered WASP director Jacqueline Cochran to collect 25 
WASP to be trained to fly the B-26 to prove to the male pilots that it 
was safe to fly.
  During the existence of the WASP, 38 women lost their lives while 
serving their country. Their bodies were sent home in poorly crafted 
pine boxes. Their burial was at the expense of their families or 
classmates. There were no gold stars allowed in their parent's windows, 
and because they were not considered military, no American flags were 
allowed on their coffins.
  In 1944, General Arnold made a personal request to Congress to 
militarize the WASP, and it was denied.
  On December 7, 1944, in a speech to the last graduating class of 
WASP, General Arnold said:

       You and more than 900 of your sisters have shown you can 
     fly wingtip to wingtip with your brothers. I salute you . . . 
     We of the Army Air Force are proud of you. We will never 
     forget our debt to you.

  With victory in World War II almost certain, on December 2, 1944, the 
WASP

[[Page S3177]]

were quietly and unceremoniously disbanded. There were no honors, no 
benefits, and very few thank-yous. Just as they had paid their own way 
to enter training, they paid their way back home.
  After their honorable service in the military, the WASP military 
records were immediately sealed, stamped ``classified'' or ``secret,'' 
and filed away in Government archives unavailable to the historians who 
wrote the history of World War II or the scholars who compiled the 
history textbooks used today, with many of the records not being 
declassified until the 1980s. Consequently, the WASP story is a missing 
chapter in the history of the Air Force, the history of aviation, and 
the history of the United States of America.
  In 1977, 33 years after the WASP were disbanded, the Congress finally 
voted to give the WASP the veteran status they had earned, but these 
heroic pilots were not invited to the signing ceremony at the White 
House, and it was not until 7 years later that their medals were 
delivered in the mail in plain brown envelopes.
  In the late 1970s, more than 30 years after the WASP flew in World 
War II, women were finally permitted to attend military pilot training 
in the U.S. Armed Forces. Thousands of women aviators flying support 
aircraft had benefited from the service of the WASP and followed in 
their footsteps.
  In 1993, the WASP were once again referenced during congressional 
hearings regarding the contributions women could make to the military, 
which eventually led to women being able to fly military fighter, 
bomber, and attack aircraft in combat. Hundreds of U.S. servicewomen 
combat pilots have seized the opportunity to fly fighter aircraft in 
recent conflicts, all thanks to the pioneering steps taken by the WASP.
  The WASP have maintained a tight-knit community, forged by the common 
experiences of serving their country during war. As part of their 
desire to educate America on the WASP history, WASP have assisted Wings 
Across America, an organization dedicated to educating the American 
public, with much effort aimed at children, about the remarkable 
accomplishments of these World War II veterans, and they have been 
honored with exhibits at museums throughout our country.
  Now it is time to give these incredible women pioneers the 
Congressional Gold Medal, who, along with the Tuskegee Airmen and the 
Navajo Code Talkers, are people who have served with courage and valor 
to our country, and they are people who really have not complained. 
They are people who did their duty, even with some discrimination in 
the Armed Forces. But they were never bitter, and they always knew what 
a service they had given. We have now honored the Navajo Code Talkers 
and the great Tuskegee Airmen, and I hope we will also accord the 
greatest honor we can bestow as a Congress to the WASP of World War II.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise today as an original cosponsor of 
a bipartisan bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the Women 
Airforce Service Pilots--the WASP. We are introducing this bill in 
March, which is Women's History Month. It is time to honor and 
recognize women who have made a difference in our Nation's history. It 
is a time to honor women who serve as role models. That is exactly what 
this legislation does.
  The WASP were women pilots from across the Nation who volunteered to 
serve in World War II. They flew America's military aircraft during the 
war, risking their lives in the service of their nation. They came from 
all walks of life, but they came together to serve our country as the 
first women trained to fly American military aircraft. They faced 
overwhelming cultural and gender bias, received unequal pay, did not 
have full military status, and were barred from becoming military 
officers, even though their male counterparts performing similar duties 
all received officer rank.
  In 1943, General Arnold combined two women flying organizations and 
formed the Women Airforce Service Pilots. Within months, these women 
paid their own way to Texas to enter training. Each woman was already a 
licensed pilot, a requirement not imposed on men to apply to flight 
school. The WASP were still required to learn to fly ``the Army way.''
  The WASP were assured they would be militarized and become part of 
the Army. These promise were not kept. The WASP took the same oath of 
office, they marched, but as pilots, they received less pay than men. 
They did not receive benefits. No VA benefits, no GI bill, no burial 
rights for the 38 WASP who were killed in service to our Nation. Fellow 
WASP had to ``take the nickels out of the Coke machine'' to help send 
their bodies home.
  Over 25,000 women applied to be part of the war effort in the WASP. 
Many volunteers received a telegram asking for their service. 
Ultimately, 1102 women earned their wings as pilots. Thirteen of these 
brave women were from Maryland: women like Barbara Shoemaker, who 
joined from the Women's Auxiliary Flying Squadron; Elaine Harmon, who 
as a WASP trained male pilots in instrument flying; Iola Magruder, who 
flew the B-18 ``Bolo''; Jane Tedeschi, who stretched all night before 
joining the WASP so she could meet the minimum height requirement; and 
Florence Marston, who flew the B-26 ``Widowmaker,'' notorious for its 
number of early accidents.
  These brave women flew over 60 million miles in 2 years. They flew 
every type of aircraft and every type of mission as the men, except 
combat missions. They towed aerial targets while being shot at with 
live ammunition. They transported cargo. They tested repaired aircraft. 
They ferried aircraft from factories like Fairchild in Hagerstown, MD, 
to points across the country. They were stationed at 120 air bases 
throughout the country.
  The WASP were not established to be a replacement for the men; 
instead, they enabled men to fly the combat missions. They found and 
fulfilled the service they could. These women were committed and they 
believed they could do what our country needed at the time we needed 
it.
  The WASP were disbanded in December 1944, when they were told they 
were ``no longer needed.'' Just as they paid for transport to training, 
they paid their own way home. For 33 years their military records were 
classified. For 33 years, their contributions were hidden from 
historians and textbooks. For 33 years, these brave women were denied 
veterans benefits.
  These women were trailblazers. They displayed honor and courage and 
flew the most complex aircraft of the age. They are patriots. They are 
an inspiration to today's women in aviation. They opened the door for 
today's women to fly in the military in aircraft ranging from cargo and 
trainers, to fighters and bombers, and even the space shuttle. They 
inspire young girls to pursue technical fields and aviation. They are 
role models who deserve to be honored. We owe the WASP our ``thank 
you''--not in words, but in deeds. For their courage, service and 
dedication to our Nation, they deserve the most distinguished honor 
Congress can give: the Congressional Gold Medal.
                                 ______