[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 327-331]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     WOMEN AIRFORCE SERVICE PILOTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hardy). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 6, 2015, the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. McSally) 
is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Ms. McSALLY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
to include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Arizona?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. McSALLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to talk about a very special group 
of women who were mentors to me and who were pioneering heroes of our 
country. These women were the Women Airforce Service Pilots, the WASPs.
  Some people don't know that much about them, but here is a picture of 
them as they flew airplanes in the World War II era. When we needed 
everybody to serve in whatever capacity one could in our country, they 
needed women to step up and become pilots in order to do all sorts of 
different missions, like towing targets for the gunners on the ground 
to learn how to shoot things down, like training men to go on to fly in 
combat, like ferrying airplanes all over the theaters to deliver them 
where they needed to be in the combat zone and bringing them back for 
maintenance. They were test pilots and engineers. You name it.
  These women were asked to step up and serve. They went through 
training. They put on the uniform. They lived in the barracks. They 
learned how to march. They were pioneers for women like me, who later 
on served as aviators in the military.
  There are just a little over 1,000 of these amazing women who served 
in World War II. They weren't given Active-Duty status, although that 
was the intent of General Arnold when they set up this program.
  If you think back then, the thought of having women military pilots 
was a little bit of a cultural hang-up. We will let women be Rosie the 
Riveter, and we will let women serve in support positions. But pilots? 
Now, that is kind of crazy talk.
  So they had a little bit of a problem culturally, but they didn't 
care. They chose to serve anyway. They said, ``I am going to step up 
and serve my country. I am going to do that as a pilot. I am going to 
do this with honor and with valor,'' just like their male counterparts 
did in these very same missions before them, alongside them, and then 
after them.
  Thirty-eight of them died in training or in conducting missions. 
Thirty-eight of them paid the ultimate sacrifice. They weren't even 
given veterans' benefits or any benefits after perishing in the line of 
duty, but they still continued to serve because their country needed 
them.
  It was not until 1977 that they were actually given veteran status 
after the fact. They were then given honorable discharges. They were 
given the medals that their male counterparts got for serving as Active 
Duty in the military. They were allowed to be buried, with honors, in 
veterans' cemeteries across the country and were given full military 
honors, which they deserved.
  They were actually allowed, as they should be allowed, to be in 
Arlington National Cemetery, alongside other heroes who have gone 
before them. Yet, we just found out within the last few weeks that that 
has been rescinded by the Department of Army.
  That happened quietly back in March of 2015 to these heroes, who 
deserve to be recognized and who deserve to be a legacy in Arlington 
National Cemetery so that future generations will know what they did 
and will know of the doors that they opened in the way that they 
served. It was rescinded by the Army.
  We didn't know about this until Elaine Harmon, one of the WASPs, 
passed away. I saw her handwritten will when I met with her family last 
week. It reads, ``I desire to be in Arlington National Cemetery. I want 
my ashes there.''
  Her family put in the request like everybody else does, and they were 
denied. We now found out that the Army has rescinded that and that it 
is no longer allowing these pioneering women to be laid to rest in 
Arlington.
  Elaine Harmon's ashes are sitting on a shelf in a closet in her 
granddaughter's home, awaiting her final resting place in Arlington, 
which she deserves. The Army gave us some bureaucratic answer about, 
oh, they are running out of space, and, by mistake, they opened it up.
  In 2002, they actually allowed women to be in Arlington. Only two 
women took advantage of this and asked to be, in their own right, in 
Arlington. Then the Army turned around and rescinded it. Again, they 
gave some bureaucratic answer.
  They are on the wrong side of this. We have looked into all of the 
legalities. The Army has all of the authorities that they need to allow 
these heroes to be laid to rest in Arlington, but they are choosing not 
to do so.
  We have introduced legislation. We are going to make sure that it 
happens, but we are calling on them to actually change it tonight. 
Right now, the Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of Defense or the 
President could tonight say: Do you know what? Elaine Harmon and the 
other WASPs--there are only a little over 100 who are still living--are 
going to be allowed to have their ashes in Arlington National Cemetery 
alongside other heroes. This is the least they could do, and they could 
do it tonight.
  So I am leading the Special Order tonight. This is a bipartisan 
Special Order. This is bipartisan legislation, and it is bicameral. 
When we raised awareness of this issue and got the legislation 
together, we had nearly 80 sponsors right away on this bill who said: 
Let's change this thing.
  Today the Senate introduced a similar bill, and we are going to work 
together to get this thing done. We want to continue to raise awareness 
to this issue, this egregious violation of these women. We want this 
thing changed now. It takes a little bit of time sometimes around here 
to work through legislation.
  In the meantime, Elaine Harmon's ashes are sitting on a shelf in a 
closet. That is not the way we treat our heroes. That is not the way we 
treat our pioneers who paved the way for military aviators, like me, to 
be able to serve in the way we did, and it needs to be changed tonight.
  We have a number of individuals here on both sides of the aisle who 
are going to be sharing this time with me tonight. I first yield to my 
good friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. 
Davis), who is the lead Democratic cosponsor of this bill.
  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Thank you so much.
  I am so glad that my colleague from Arizona is here to speak to this. 
She is very uniquely qualified to do that as one of the first women 
pilots--or the first--to actually fly in combat.
  As I remember, the women who joined us a few years ago here in the 
Capitol who were part of the WASPs were here to receive Gold Medals for 
their heroic acts during the war and for really coming forward and 
being part of that volunteer band of women who had had some experience 
in flying, but who could not have imagined in their wildest dreams 
doing what they were asked to do, but they were delighted to do it.
  As I will share, they actually wanted to do more, but there were some 
other people who took over and asked them to go home and enjoy their 
lives after

[[Page 328]]

they had given so much. So I am just delighted to join in this effort 
and to right this injustice for military trailblazers who were truly 
ahead of their time.
  When the call came to serve in World War II, the WASPs answered that 
call just like millions of other Americans. They logged over 60 million 
miles in over 12,000 aircraft. As my colleague has said, 38 WASP women 
died while serving their country.
  In 2009, as I mentioned, the WASPs were awarded the Congressional 
Gold Medal for flying military missions in World War II. Boy, even when 
they were here, they were just a strong group of women who delighted in 
seeing one another and in reminding themselves of the amazing stories 
that they brought.
  More than anything else, they serve today as great role models to 
women who were considering going in the Air Force, of course, and in 
the Navy, flying for our country, but, also, for taking on some 
remarkable challenges in their lives. They really represent that for 
all of us.
  They fought, of course, and they died in service to their country. 
They trained in military style. They slept on metal cots like everybody 
else and marched and lived under military discipline. That is why we 
feel they deserve the full honors that we give our war heroes.
  As has been mentioned, they were given those honors, but because we 
have a problem of space, it was decided that perhaps they were not at 
the top of the list. We need to be sure that we provide for everyone 
who needs to be there.
  There are many WASPs who may not necessarily choose to be at 
Arlington National Cemetery, but for those who have chosen in working 
with their families--and their families have fought hard for them--this 
is something that we need to do.
  I want to particularly mention--and I thought this was really fun to 
read--one of the articles about these WASPs.
  This is Eddy, who is saying, ``I thought it was the nastiest thing 
that they''--speaking of the Army Air Forces officials--``could have 
done to us.'' This was while she was receiving visitors at her home in 
Coronado. ``They fired us. They gave our jobs to Air Force men who 
didn't want to go overseas. I would have gone overseas in a minute,'' 
she said. ``I was a (heck of) a good fighter pilot.''
  In my community of San Diego, in El Cajon, I also have a woman named 
Joyce Secciani, who perhaps was not as forthright as Eddy.
  But despite some fading memories, at 87, she still shares Vivian's 
passion for the WASPs and her disappointment with its demise. She was 
also one of the 1,102 women who flew in the all-volunteer program 
between 1942 and 1944.
  She remarked, ``All of us felt bad to lose (our flying jobs)--all of 
us wanted to keep up our ability to fly,'' because they knew that, with 
prevailing chauvinistic attitudes, there would be no pilots' work for 
them in the civilian realm.
  We need to be sure that we don't lose our perspective about the work 
that these women did and that we honor them in this way, that we honor 
them and their families who supported them as well, because we know, 
with all of our military families, it is not just the person who 
serves, but it is the entire family who serves as well.
  That was certainly true of these WASPs, whose family members worried 
about them and were concerned about them as they carried on with their 
duties as forcibly as they did.
  Let's send that message. Let's continue to work hard. I know that the 
WASPs are also planning a museum to honor them and to make sure that 
the country never forgets the work that they did because it was 
necessary.
  Had they not been there to do that work, many, many people would not 
have received the materials. Whatever it was, they were making sure 
that it got to our fighting warriors during World War II.

                              {time}  1930

  I am so delighted that my colleague is choosing to move forward with 
this. I want to turn it back to her, and I know that there are other 
colleagues of mine over here that would like very much to join in this.
  Ms. McSALLY. Thank you, Congresswoman Davis. I really appreciate your 
partnership on this issue. Together we can show the American people 
that we can be united on these things that matter to support our 
veterans and support our heroes and, again, put the pressure on the 
administration that we have oversight of to actually fix this wrong 
right now. I really look forward to continuing working with you on it.
  I yield to the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Poliquin), who is joining 
this discussion as a cosponsor on the bill, very strongly supporting 
this initiative.
  Mr. POLIQUIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congresswoman.
  I don't think it much matters if you are a man or you are a woman, 
but you serve in the United States military. Anybody who has stood up 
for this country to protect our freedom, protect our way of life, 
protect our kids, they should receive the full benefits, the full 
honors of anybody who served in uniform.
  Now, tonight, as Congresswoman McSally said, we can fix this. There 
is absolutely no reason whatsoever why the Pentagon should, for some 
reason, say there is no room at Arlington. Are you kidding me?
  Over 1,000 of these brave, patriotic women, during a time where, as 
Congresswoman McSally and Congresswoman Davis mentioned, they were not 
always welcomed in doing what men were doing, they stood up, they stood 
up and they left their homes and they left their families. They did 
what was right. They served this country with honor, with dignity. They 
flew 78 different types of aircraft all over the world. Over 60 million 
miles were logged. Look at this picture.
  I salute you, Congresswoman, for bringing this before us.
  Now, do you think any of these WASPs were saying, ``Well, I don't 
know, we just can't get this done, we just can't perform this mission, 
I am sorry''? Well, the Pentagon needs to step up right now. They need 
to find a way to make sure, if these WASPs want to be interred at 
Arlington, they should be.
  Now, some of the missions that these brave women flew on included 
transporting these vehicles all around the world. You know what they 
also did? They towed targets for men on the ground that were practicing 
artillery. Did you hear one of these WASPs complain, ``Gee, I hope that 
these men will hit the targets instead of us''?
  The least the Pentagon can do is to take this seriously, listen to 
the will of the people, and make sure that these brave women are so 
honored by being interred, if they wish, at Arlington.
  Now, one of these humble American heroes is a woman by the name of 
Betty Anne Brown, who very recently passed away at age 92. Now, 
wouldn't she be proud of all of us today standing up and asking that 
our country, that the Pentagon does the right thing?
  I salute Ms. McSally for her leadership on this issue. The Pentagon 
can do what is right today. As you mentioned, Congresswoman, 
legislation is not needed if our Commander in Chief or the folks who 
run the Pentagon stand up and do what is right.
  These women deserve every right to be buried at Arlington if they so 
wish.
  Thank you very much, and I am honored to cosponsor this bill.
  Ms. McSALLY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Poliquin. I really appreciate 
his strong support and strong words in support of this effort here.
  I yield to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin), my good 
friend. I think back to how many years ago it was this week, actually, 
when I was your guest at the State of the Union Address. So I have 
appreciated your support to me when I was in the military and the 
fights that we had to make sure that women were treated fairly and, 
also, your strong support on this particular effort.
  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman McSally for 
yielding. I want to thank her for bringing our attention to this 
important issue this evening.
  I am proud to serve with her on the House Armed Services Committee. I

[[Page 329]]

know she is very proud to represent the people of Arizona in the Second 
Congressional District there.
  I might make note that Ms. McSally's roots are from my home State of 
Rhode Island. She and I grew up in the same neighborhood, and I am 
proud to have worked with her on several issues since she has arrived 
in Congress. I was proud, again, back then to have her as my guest to 
the State of the Union Message as she mentioned.
  Again, I thank you for raising this important issue. I find it 
completely disheartening that the Women Airforce Service Pilots have 
been denied interment in one of our Nation's most sacred national 
burial grounds where we honor our men and women who have served.
  These brave female aviators of World War II embody courage, 
resiliency, and patriotism. Again, I am proud to support Congresswoman 
McSally's efforts to reinstate their interment eligibility in Arlington 
National Cemetery. Without these women, some of whom made the ultimate 
sacrifice for our country in one of its greatest times of need, our 
Nation would not stand where it does in the world today. We are 
indebted to them for their service.
  The very least that we can do, Mr. Speaker, is to honor them with the 
dignity and the respect that they have earned and so deserve. We have 
got to see this policy reversed. I know that we will. It is a 
bipartisan effort. I am proud to join with my colleagues on both sides 
of the aisle in raising attention to this issue and insisting that we 
ensure that these brave female aviators of World War II, again, who 
embody the courage and resiliency and patriotism that this country so 
admires and that we are grateful for, and that we see that they are 
properly given the honor that they deserve.
  Again, I want to thank Congresswoman McSally for shedding this light 
on this misguided injustice.
  Ms. McSALLY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Langevin.
  Again, I appreciate your support on this bill and your friendship 
over the years. I look forward to working together to getting this 
mission done and then additional things in the future. Thank you so 
much for your strong support for our heroes.
  I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen). She has 
been a strong advocate, as others who have spoken today, for the WASPs 
and especially the push for the Congressional Gold Medal. I am just 
honored to have you as a cosponsor and a strong advocate on this bill.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I am so pleased, so honored, so humbled to be part 
of your Special Order. In the short time that you have been in 
Congress, you have been a real leader on so many important issues, and 
I think none as important as the one that you are spearheading today.
  I rise today to support you in your mission to give due recognition 
to the Women Airforce Service Pilots, otherwise known as WASPs, not the 
other WASPs that you know about. These are the real ladies that got the 
job done. They are a remarkable group of women who served our country 
proudly during World War II.
  As you heard from the other speakers, our country turned to female 
pilots to deliver planes to our military air bases overseas, tow 
targets for live antiaircraft artillery practice, and simulate strafing 
missions. They became the first women in U.S. history to fly for our 
proud military.
  Out of more than 25,000 women who applied for the program, only 1,704 
were accepted in noncombat roles. These courageous American women 
logged in more than 60 million miles between 1942 and 1944, but it 
wasn't until 1977 that Congress passed legislation that gave these 
patriotic women their much-deserved veteran recognition.
  In 2002, Arlington National Cemetery decided to allow WASPs, among 
others listed as Active Duty designees, to receive benefits consistent 
with the status that they had so rightfully earned. However, the 
Department of the Army recently rescinded this decision and made these 
brave women aviators of World War II ineligible for burial at Arlington 
National Cemetery.
  As the author of the legislation--and the gentlewoman and I have 
talked about this repeatedly--awarding WASPs the Congressional Gold 
Medal in the year of 2009, I am honored to stand with my friend and 
colleague, Congresswoman Martha McSally, a true patriot in her own 
right, to ensure that the WASPs have the right to have these services 
alongside the rest of our war heroes. These patriotic women selflessly 
helped defend our country. They deserve full military honor.
  I am humbled and proud to represent south Florida, and I would like 
to inform the gentlewoman that this has been home to some of these 
remarkable heroine women. I am going to mention some of their names: 
Frances Rohrer Sargent, Helen Wyatt Snapp, Ruth Schafer Fleisher, 
Shirley Kruse, and Bee Haydu. Some are with us, and some are no longer 
with us. Some are not in great shape because they served in World War 
II. It is happening throughout our Nation where we see our finest 
passing away.
  In this time of great challenges to women, those women that you have 
there before us, they pushed beyond the boundaries. They brought new 
opportunities for women to come.
  My daughter-in-law, Lindsay, flew combat missions in Iraq and 
Afghanistan for the Marines, but she would not have been able to do so 
without the women who came before her. Just as you are a pioneer--to 
the gentlewoman I say thank you for your patriotic duty--but you stand 
also on their shoulders. These pioneers fought for the values of 
freedom and democracy. It is our duty to ensure that they are not 
denied the recognition for their service.
  We shouldn't be begging for this. With the valiant efforts of these 
American heroines, the United States and our allies were able to 
successfully defeat the Axis Powers during World War II.
  I thank you, Congresswoman McSally, for introducing this important 
legislation that would make the Women Airforce Service Pilots eligible, 
once again, for the services in Arlington National Cemetery with full 
military honors. I agree with you that we don't need the legislation; 
that tonight, the Secretary of the Army could do the right thing, as he 
had done before, sign the order making this happen.
  We will continue the battle in their names. Thank you so much to the 
gentlewoman. Thank you for spearheading this effort. Thank you for 
taking this on. You are a valuable member of this institution. Thank 
you for the time.
  Ms. McSALLY. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Florida. As soon as 
I mentioned it to Ileana, she was like: This is wrong. We have got to 
get involved. We have got to fix this.
  So I appreciate your strong advocacy before I got here, and your 
continued advocacy as a wingwoman in this cause.
  You know, for the WASPs in this story and this cause, it is not just 
the right thing to do for the country. For me, it is also personal. 
These women opened the door for me to be able to be a pilot in the Air 
Force and, when the doors were opened, to transition to be a fighter 
pilot in the Air Force.
  I will be honest with you, I didn't hear about them when I was in 
high school. This is one reason why it is so important that we allow 
them to be laid to rest in Arlington, so that it is part of the 
education for future generations.
  It wasn't until I went off to the Air Force Academy that I actually 
learned about the WASPs and learned about what they did. I just didn't 
even imagine that we would have women military pilots in the 1940s in 
World War II, but we did.
  I got to meet some of these amazing women when I first came to Tucson 
to fly the A-10 Warthog, started my training. There were several of 
them that lived in southern Arizona, and I got to become friends with 
them, and they became mentors to me and encouragers to me.
  As the doors were opening up for us to transition into fighters, 
there was hardly anybody we could really look to who understood what it 
was like to be in challenging circumstances where you are the only 
woman. People have

[[Page 330]]

attitudes about whether you can or cannot or should or should not do 
what you are doing as an aviator. But these women understood that. They 
put up with the same biases and the same discrimination as they served. 
They flew in World War II.
  As I was looking around for someone to have as a role model, these 
women were incredible friends to me and supporters and wingwomen to me.
  Here is one picture I want to show you. This is Ruth Helm, one of the 
Tucson residents who, sadly, made her final flight over the last year. 
This is when she was inducted into the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame. 
This is a picture of the two of us in civilian clothes as she was 
inducted there.

                              {time}  1945

  These women paved the way for me, but they encouraged me. Even at my 
most challenging times, when I was feeling discouraged, I would sit 
down with them, and they would just fire me up to live to fight and fly 
another day.
  Despite the fact that they were told to leave the military after all 
they did, they still were proud. They didn't have a chip on their 
shoulder. They were grateful for the opportunities that they had. They 
laughed off some of the challenges that they went through. They just 
started encouraging me, ``Come on, you can do it. We did it.'' I just 
was able to kind of get back in there and continue to push forward 
because of what they did before me to open up the doors for me.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Will the gentlewoman yield?
  Ms. McSALLY. I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Obviously we share a compassion and passion for 
these wonderful women. We also serve on the Committee on Homeland 
Security together.
  First of all, let me thank you for your service and thank you so very 
much for bringing this very important issue, this bipartisan issue to 
the floor of the House and certainly to your colleagues. I am looking 
forward to working with you on this issue.
  I just want to say that one of my greatest joys in the United States 
Congress was the military war zones that I had the chance to go to, 
starting with the Bosnian war. I came in in that timeframe and traveled 
to that area, Kosovo and Albania, and then, of course, Iraq and 
Afghanistan and certainly a number of other sites where issues of 
conflict were going on.
  There I saw a myriad of women who stood on the shoulders of these 
women, who are now in a variety of the branches, not just aviators or 
in the Air Force in particular, but they stood on the shoulders of 
these women. It gave me a sense of pride and duty to say to them, 
``Thank you.''
  Women are unique. Many of them are mothers or sisters and daughters 
who are in the service, or they take care of children, or they are 
nurturers for someone else. We have a particular role, but yet they are 
in the military leaving their families.
  Just coming in today, I read an article about the ranger who is from 
my constituency who just came out of ranger school and is from Houston. 
I simply want to say, this is the right thing to do.
  Every year--and I think you have joined us now as you have come to 
Congress--we go on Memorial Day week to Arlington and lay a wreath for 
women who died in the line of duty or in the service of their country. 
Does anyone realize the numbers of women? We have been doing this now 
for more than a decade, and the women of the House join us. They do 
that because this is a valuable part of America's history.
  To the lady, the aviator that now, I wouldn't say languished, but is 
with her granddaughter, her ashes are with her granddaughter, I want to 
make a public commitment joining you to say that her ashes should be in 
a place where she can rest in peace. We should move this quickly. If it 
requires an independent action by the Army, a reconsideration, I am 
sure none of us would be offended by the Army rescinding this 
particular--how should I say it?--action.
  I just wanted to come and thank you. I want to thank my colleague 
Susan Davis and all of my colleagues who have been on the floor. I did 
not want to miss this opportunity.
  Coming from Texas, I think, as I walk down the streets of Houston or 
travel throughout the State of Texas, I see veterans and Active Duty 
everywhere. We are proud of that. In urban centers like Houston, you 
would think not, but they are dominant there.
  Just this past Christmas, we had what we call Toys for Kids and 
honored veterans' families. This is an important mission, and I want to 
join you in this mission. We have gotten our assignment. We really need 
to work. I think the American people need to know that all of us will 
join together to honor either our veterans, our fallen soldiers, or 
those who were the pioneers who I know the story of, who stood when 
they were called and did not step away from duty, did not step away 
from the danger, did not step away from possible death as they pursued 
the cause of this country and to protect this country.
  I thank you for yielding to me.
  I am ready to roll up my sleeves. Let's get busy. Let's help find a 
resting place for this dear sister and servant of the Nation. Let's 
find a resting place going forward for all of those who have served 
this wonderful and great country. They deserve it.
  Ms. McSALLY. I thank the gentlewoman from Texas for joining the 
conversation tonight, again, to continue to highlight this egregious 
action that was taken that is putting our heroes in a place, especially 
Elaine Harmon, right now, where she has nowhere to be able to rest in 
peace. The place that she wanted to be is denying her, even though her 
service and the criteria are very clear that she has earned that right.
  I really appreciate you joining this bipartisan mission. We are not 
going to rest until the mission is complete. I want to thank the 
gentlewoman for that.
  As I was mentioning, this isn't just the right thing to do, but this 
is personal for me. As I transitioned into fighters, these women, these 
pioneers who opened up the door for me to even have the opportunity to 
become a fighter pilot, they mentored me. They walked alongside me. 
They encouraged me. They gave me some perspectives from their own 
training and their own experiences. They made me laugh. They made me 
cry. They were friends who just paved the way for me.
  You think about the debates we have had in this body over the years. 
I mean, women couldn't be pilots again in the military until, the late 
1970s or early 1980s, they finally opened up the door for women to be 
pilots. But they could only serve in noncombat roles.
  When they had that debate, that didn't have to be theoretical or 
hypothetical. They had the example of these amazing women who did what 
they did in World War II--again, over a thousand of them, under 
extraordinary circumstances, flying by themselves, often just trying to 
figure it out in bad weather and how they were going to land and 
dealing with emergencies and clearances and just doing what it took in 
order to get the mission done, get the plane where it needed to be, 
train the men to go off and fly in combat, tow the targets, do the 
simulated strafing runs, all the test piloting, everything, to include 
risking their lives. Thirty-eight of them died.
  This is personal to me. These three women pictured in this photo--
Dawn Seymour, Eleanor Gunderson, and Ruth Helm--they are sitting in 
this photo in the front row of the change of command ceremony that I 
had where I took over command of an A-10 fighter squadron, which was an 
historic day for our country that we finally had a woman doing that. It 
was an historic day for me to be able to take command of a squadron. I 
invited them and asked them to sit in the front row. I honored them in 
my change of command speech because I wanted to make sure that 
everybody there knew that I only had the opportunities that I had in 
the military because they paved the way.
  These three women are personal friends of mine. Two of them have 
since had their final flight. Dawn Seymour is still with us, but the 
other two have passed away. We have to keep

[[Page 331]]

their legacy going. We have to make sure the next generations know how 
they served with honor at a time when the country needed them. We have 
to make sure that Elaine Harmon and any of the other WASPs who want to 
have their ashes in Arlington Cemetery are allowed to do that.
  Let's be clear. The only reason these women were not considered 
Active Duty at the time was because of gender biases and discrimination 
against women. That is the only reason. Had they been a man doing those 
jobs, they would have been Active Duty in the Army Air Corps; they 
would have been discharged honorably; and under the current guidelines, 
they would have been eligible to have their ashes at Arlington. The 
only reason they were not Active Duty at the time was because of gender 
discrimination.
  Now this is 2016. It is time for that to stop. We thought it was over 
in 1977 when we finally retroactively gave them that veteran status. 
They were given those honorable discharges and the medals that they 
deserved from serving in World War II. We opened up the door for them 
to have military honors and to be laid to rest in veteran cemeteries 
around the country.
  Arlington Cemetery opened up the doors to them finally--a little 
late, but in 2002. Last March, without telling anybody, they quietly 
rescinded that. It was just the last slap of gender discrimination 
against these amazing pioneers. It needs to be overturned immediately. 
This is the right thing to do for Elaine Harmon and for the other women 
who are still living. There are about 100 of them who are still with 
us; and for the next generations who need to know about their service, 
they deserve to be laid to rest next to the other heroes who are there.
  The Secretary of the Army has all the authority he needs to let 
Elaine Harmon's ashes be in Arlington. Let's be clear. This does not 
take legislation. He has all the authority he needs to make that happen 
tonight. If he won't do it, the Secretary of Defense can. If he won't 
do it, then President Obama can. We should not wait another day, Mr. 
Secretary, Mr. President, before making the decision and calling on 
Elaine Harmon's family and saying, ``It is approved. Elaine can rest in 
peace in Arlington National Cemetery,'' which is what she deserved and 
what she asked for. We should not be lingering another day.
  As we continue to call on the administration to do the right thing, 
we are not going to sit by idly. We have got our legislation 
introduced. We have got almost 80 cosponsors in the House. We have got 
a Senate version of the bill that was introduced today, led by Senator 
Mikulski and Senator Ernst, also a bipartisan bill. We are going to 
continue to push this forward to make this right for our heroes, these 
Women Airforce Service Pilots, these WASPs. It is the least that we 
could do for all they have done for us.
  The last thing I want to say before I close out is that this just 
seems to be a cruel irony and a cruel contradiction if you think about 
it. Just last month, the Pentagon announced that they are opening up, 
finally, all positions in the military to women. It has been a long 
road to get to that place. I have been a strong advocate for that 
happening for a very long time.
  We are a country that is about equal opportunity. We are a country 
that treats people as individuals. Our foundations are based on not 
treating people as a class. We should always, and in the military as 
well, pick the best man for the job, even if it is a woman.
  It has been a long haul to get over our biases as a country about 
what we think women as a whole group could or should do in service to 
our military. Gradually, positions have been opened. Gradually, women 
have continued to show that, when called, they will serve valiantly and 
with honor. They will fight and they will die, if needed, for our 
freedoms and our liberty.
  At the time that the Pentagon is opening up all positions to women in 
the military that they are qualified for, they are closing the doors to 
Arlington for the pioneers who made that happen. That is a cruel 
hypocrisy and contradiction, and it needs to be made right tonight.
  So again, I call on the Secretary of the Army, Secretary of Defense, 
and the President--perhaps he could announce it in his speech tomorrow 
night--that one of the legacy things that we are going to do for our 
heroes, for our pioneers, for these amazing women, is to allow them to 
be laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. We owe it to them. They 
paved the way as trailblazers. We owe it to them to be able to rest 
alongside the other heroes and to be able to continue to educate the 
next generations about their legacy.
  All I will say to the WASPs is: I have got your back. You had mine, 
and I have got yours now. It is the right thing to do.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________