[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 29, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8265-S8266]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     WASP CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, as chairman of the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs, it is the responsibility of my committee 
colleagues and I to oversee and consider legislation to award 
Congressional Gold Medals to prospective candidates deemed worthy of 
the honor. Indeed, it is the highest honor that Congress can bestow on 
an individual or group, and as such, my committee has to ensure that 
these bills garner broad bipartisan support in the form of two-thirds 
cosponsorship in the Senate before they can receive full consideration. 
This year, I am pleased that a bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal 
to the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or

[[Page S8266]]

WASP, secured my committee's approval and passed the Senate unanimously 
on May 20, 2009.
  This bill, authored by Senators Hutchison and Mikulski, recognizes 
the brave actions of more than a thousand women who served our country 
so courageously during World War II. Their patriotism and sacrifice 
were essential to our war effort. Quite simply, they were responsible 
for transporting critical military aircraft throughout the United 
States. Ferrying over 12,000 aircraft, of nearly 80 different types, 
these groundbreaking women operated war machines, from the fabled B-29 
Superfortress to the lethal P-51 Mustang fighter. The purpose of their 
missions was to prepare these aircraft for combat and ensure their 
readiness.
  The WASPs were so effective that they logged over 50 percent of these 
kinds of missions for our Nation, flying more than 60 million miles 
over the course of the war. Their likes included Jacqueline Cochran, 
one of the greatest female pilots of all time, who was chosen to be the 
director of the WASPs flight training. Jacqueline set the women's U.S. 
high altitude and international speed records and was also the winner 
of the coveted Bendix trophy in 1938. During the famous air race, she 
earned an epic victory flying from Los Angeles to Cleveland in just 
over 8 hours. Jacqueline was further commended for her service during 
the war when she was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the 
highest decoration she could have received from the military without 
being recognized as an Active-Duty servicemember. When the war ended, 
Jacqueline's passion for flying would drive her to set new aviation 
records, becoming the first female pilot to fly a bomber across the 
Atlantic. Additionally, six WASPs are still living in my home State of 
Connecticut. One of them, Gloria Heath, flew a dangerous mission as a 
B-26 bomber pilot, flying at 6,000 feet while towing a banner that 
fighter pilots would use for target practice during live fire 
exercises. Now Gloria is nationally recognized as a leader in aviation 
safety, having served as a founding board member of the Flight Safety 
Foundation. She also established an international safety information 
dissemination service to provide a unified, global response to 
emergencies on the land, in the air, and on the sea. Her pioneering 
efforts to ensure the safety of pilots and travelers all over the world 
have undoubtedly saved lives. Throughout her endeavors, Gloria never 
lost sight of her lifelong commitment to flying. She would become the 
director of summer aviation programs at Connecticut College, helping 
young students discover their passion for flight, just as she did half 
a decade before.
  But these women did more than just serve our country they were also 
pioneers for women's rights. They will forever have the honor of being 
the first female aviators in American military history, serving as the 
forerunners to women's equality in the Armed Forces. In doing so, they 
paved the way for women's rights in the military and other workforces 
across the country. And although much still remains to be done to 
eradicate gender discrimination, women military combat pilots are now 
flying alongside their brothers in arms a true testament to the 
barriers broken down by the WASPs more than six decades ago.
  These women often faced scorn and ridicule, but they refused to back 
down in their conviction that they could fly as proficiently as men. 
Ultimately, they were proven right and demonstrated that success should 
be measured in terms of merit and talent, not by gender.
  Therefore it is with great pride and honor, Mr. President, that I 
support this bill. I commend Senators Hutchison and Mikulski for all 
their hard work and join them in their gratitude for the pioneering 
women of the WASP program.

                          ____________________