.Sep 17, 2024, 09:18 PM ETWASHINGTON-- Billie Jean Master will certainly come to be the 1st private females's athlete to become awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania as well as Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey announced Tuesday that their bipartisan regulation had passed the House of Panels as well as would be actually sent out to Head of state Joe Biden for his signature.The costs to recognize King, the tennis Hall of Famer as well as lobbyist, had actually currently passed all in the Senate.Sherrill, a Democrat, stated in a claim that King's "lifetime of proposal and also effort altered the garden for women and also women on the courtroom, in the classroom, and also the work environment." The bill was offered in September 2023 on the 50th anniversary of Master's success over Bobby Riggs in the "Struggle of the Sexual activities," still the most-watched tennis suit of perpetuity. The award, awarded by Our lawmakers for distinguished accomplishments as well as payments to community, has recently been actually provided professional athletes, featuring pitcher Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente and also golf players Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson as well as Arnold Palmer.King had actually currently been actually rewarded the Presidential Medal of Liberty in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, mentions she possesses "defective barricades, led unexplored roads, and also influenced countless people to stand up happily with nerve and also principle in the fight for what corrects.".