HR-4901-119
Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Sponsored by Elise Stefanik (R-NY)
What it does
This bill would award a Congressional Gold Medal collectively to women who served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and U.S. Navy Nurse Corps during World War II. The Secretary of the Treasury would design and strike the medal, which would then be displayed at the Smithsonian Institution and made available for loan to relevant military and historical sites. The bill also authorizes the sale of bronze duplicate medals at cost-covering prices, with proceeds deposited into the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
Who benefits
Living surviving WWII nurses (a very small number, given their age) and their families and descendants, who would receive formal national recognition. Veterans' advocacy organizations and military history institutions, particularly those listed for potential medal display: the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence, the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, the U.S. Army Women's Museum, the National Naval Medical Centers, and the National World War II Museum. The Smithsonian Institution, which would receive and steward the medal. Collectors and the public who may purchase bronze duplicates.
Who is hurt
There are no direct groups materially harmed by this bill. The U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund bears the production costs of the gold medal, though the fund is designed to be self-sustaining and bronze duplicate sales are intended to offset costs. Taxpayers bear any net cost not recovered through duplicate medal sales, though this amount is expected to be minimal.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that more than 73,000 Army and Navy nurses volunteered to serve in extraordinarily dangerous conditions — including as prisoners of war — yet received only 50% of the pay of male counterparts, no veteran benefits, and no military status for most of the war. They contend that the Congressional Gold Medal is the appropriate mechanism for belated official recognition of a group whose contributions — including a field mortality rate below 4% for treated soldiers — were decisive to the war effort and have gone formally unacknowledged at the national level for 80 years.
Opponents argue
Opponents might argue that Congress has awarded hundreds of Congressional Gold Medals in recent decades, raising questions about whether the honor retains meaningful distinction when applied broadly and collectively to large groups rather than specific individuals. They could contend that the bill's collective award structure — covering tens of thousands of nurses across all theaters — sets a precedent for expansive group awards that may dilute the medal's historical prestige, and that other forms of recognition, such as permanent memorial designations, might more durably serve the commemorative purpose.