.Sep 17, 2024, 09:18 PM ETWASHINGTON-- Billie Jean Master are going to become the 1st specific ladies's professional athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and also Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey declared Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had actually passed the House of Representatives as well as will be actually sent out to Head of state Joe Biden for his signature.The bill to honor King, the tennis Hall of Famer and also protestor, had already passed with one voice in the Senate.Sherrill, a Democrat, stated in a claim that King's "life time of campaigning for as well as effort altered the landscape for females as well as ladies on the court, in the classroom, and the office." The costs was actually launched in September 2023 on the 50th anniversary of Master's success over Bobby Riggs in the "War of the Sexes," still the most-watched tennis suit of all time. The medal, rewarded by Congress for prominent achievements as well as payments to culture, has actually previously been offered to professional athletes, including pitcher Jackie Robinson as well as Roberto Clemente and also golf players Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and also Arnold Palmer.King had actually currently been actually granted the Presidential Award of Independence in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she possesses "faulty obstacles, led unexplored courses, and motivated a great number of folks to stand proudly with guts and also principle in the fight for what is right.".