Press Release

Senate Passes Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act

By SpaceRef Editor
October 17, 2019
Filed under , ,

Today, the Senate considered and passed the Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act. This bill awards the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress’s highest civilian honor, to Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, Dorothy Vaughan, Christine Darden, and all the women computers, mathematicians, and engineers at NASA, and its precursor organization the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), who devoted their talents in service to the United States from the 1930s to the 1970s through World War II and the Space Race.

Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) made the following statement. 


“I want to thank my colleagues, Senator Coons, Senator Murkowski, Senator Harris, and Ranking Member Lucas, for their hard work in advancing this bill to the President’s desk. Acknowledging the many women who have not been given the recognition they deserve for their contributions to technological advancement and competitiveness in the US has become one of my greatest privileges as a Member of Congress. I very much look forward to this bill being signed into law, and to publicly crediting Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, Dorothy Vaughan, Christine Darden, and all the women computers, mathematicians, and engineers at NASA and NACA for the integral roles they played in our space program.”

SpaceRef staff editor.