Passage of Congressional Gold Medal for Billie Jean King
NYC Newswire
Passage of Congressional Gold Medal for Billie Jean King
The U.S. House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation to award a Congressional Gold Medal to tennis icon Billie Jean King, a trailblazer and champion for Equal Pay in Women’s Sports. The legislation’s passage comes as we approach the 51st anniversary of Billie Jean King defeating Bobby Riggs, on September 20, 1973. It is the first time a female athlete will receive the nation’s highest civilian honor.
On the House floor, Rep Nicole Malliotakis spoke in support of awarding King the highest civilian honor and highlighted how the sport of tennis was first brought to the United States through Staten Island. “As the representative of Staten Island, NY—where the sport of tennis was first brought and played by Mary Ewing Outerbridge 150 years ago and where the first national tennis tournament was played in 1880—it gives me great pride to join my colleagues in honoring the woman who advanced the sport and achieved equal prize money for herself and all the women who followed.”
“Billie Jean King has inspired generations of American women. She lived the dream for her generation and women who came before her who lived during a time when they were restricted from reaching their full potential and she has empowered younger women with the road she paved and the ceiling she broke,” Malliotakis added.
