Sponsors (29)
Official title: 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.
Introduced June 26, 2025 by Tammy Baldwin · Last progress June 26, 2025
The bill officially honors WWII Army and Navy nurses and preserves the medal for public education while enabling paid public replicas that largely offset costs — delivering symbolic recognition and modest educational benefits at small fiscal and administrative cost, with limited broader policy impact.
WWII Army and Navy Nurse Corps members (veterans, many of them women) are formally honored with congressional findings and a Congressional Gold Medal, giving official recognition of their service and sacrifices.
The medal will be preserved and placed with the Smithsonian (and recommended for display at additional military/museum sites), increasing public access to this history for researchers, students, and the general public.
Collectors and the public can buy officially authorized bronze duplicates, and sales are structured to cover production costs and return revenue to the Mint Public Enterprise Fund, reducing the need for new taxpayer appropriations.
There will be modest taxpayer-funded administrative and ceremonial costs (producing, transferring, and displaying the medal) borne by the Treasury, Congress, Smithsonian and related agencies.
If the congressional findings lead to future proposals expanding benefits for veterans or surviving nurses, that could increase federal spending and taxpayer liabilities (costs unspecified).
If demand for bronze duplicates is low, the program may generate little revenue while still creating administrative burdens for the Secretary and other federal staff to manage production and sales.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Creates and strikes a Congressional Gold Medal honoring World War II Army and Navy nurses, donates the original to the Smithsonian, and authorizes sale of bronze duplicates to cover costs.
Creates and authorizes a Congressional Gold Medal to honor members of the World War II Army and Navy Nurse Corps and related nurse units, directs production and donation of the medal to the Smithsonian, and permits sale of bronze duplicates to cover production costs. It designates the medals as national numismatic items and allows the U.S. Mint to recover costs from its Public Enterprise Fund and to deposit proceeds from bronze duplicate sales into that fund.