WWII Nurses Congressional Gold Medal Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 2195 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 2195 To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the brave women who served in World War II as members of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 26 (legislative day, June 24), 2025 Ms. Baldwin (for herself, Mr. Daines, and Mr. Lujan) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the brave women who served in World War II as members of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``WWII Nurses Congressional Gold Medal Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. The Congress finds the following: (1) On December 8, 1941, the United States declared war against the Empire of Japan, followed by declarations of war against Germany and Italy on December 11, 1941. In 1935, there were fewer than 600 United States Army nurses and 1,700 United States Navy nurses on active duty. By the time World War II ended, more than 59,000 Army nurses and 14,000 Navy nurses had volunteered to serve. (2) The Act of June 4, 1920 (41 Stat. 759; chapter 227), granted women in the Nurse Corps ``relative rank''. This gave them the right to wear the military insignia, but did not confer military status or privileges. This arrangement meant women serving throughout World War II received 50 percent of the pay as compared to their male counterparts, and none of the veteran benefits. Because they did not receive military status, they received no orientation or tr