On May 28th, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02), a retired Army Lt. Colonel and member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, introduced a bipartisan resolution to honor the women who served in World War II and recognize the role of former Representative Edith Nourse Rogers in establishing the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and the Women’s Army Corps (WAC).
In 1942, Rogers’ legislation to create the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps became law, ensuring that if women who served in support of the Army would have the same recognition and benefits as male soldiers. In 1943, the Army finally removed the auxiliary status of the WAAC units.
“For too long, the WAAC and WAC have gone unrecognized and unappreciated. It is about time we change that by acknowledging the incredible contributions of the Corps, and by the woman who led the effort to create them, the late Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers,” said Miller-Meeks. “As a 24-year Army veteran, I understand the sacrifices these women made in service to our country. I am proud to join such a bipartisan group of my colleagues in this effort.”
In the House, the resolution was introduced by Reps. Katherine Clark (MA-05), Don Bacon (NE-02), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Liz Cheney (WY-At Large), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05), Jackie Speier (CA-14), and Ann Wagner (MO-02).
“By the end of the War, more than 400,000 women had served the United States in military capacities. Those women who served, despite their merit and the recognized value and importance of their contributions to the effort of the United States during the War, were not given status equal to their male counterparts; and struggled for years to receive the appreciation of Congress and the people of the United States. Those women helped to catalyze the social, demographic, and economic evolutions that occurred after the War and that continue to this day… and are owed a great debt ofgratitude for their service to the United States,” wrote the Members in the resolution.
To read the full text of the resolution, click HERE.
