.Sep 17, 2024, 09:18 PM ETWASHINGTON-- Billie Jean King will certainly become the initial personal ladies's professional athlete to become rewarded the Congressional Gold Medal.Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and also Mikie Sherrill of New Jacket declared Tuesday that their bipartisan regulations had actually passed your house of Panels as well as would be delivered to Head of state Joe Biden for his signature.The costs to honor King, the tennis Hallway of Famer and also lobbyist, had actually currently passed with one voice in the Senate.Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that King's "lifetime of advocacy as well as effort changed the garden for females and also gals on the court, in the classroom, as well as the office." The expense was actually introduced in September 2023 on the 50th anniversary of King's triumph over Bobby Riggs in the "War of the Sexual activities," still the most-watched tennis suit of perpetuity. The medal, rewarded by Our lawmakers for recognized accomplishments as well as contributions to culture, has actually formerly been given to professional athletes, featuring baseball players Jackie Robinson and also Roberto Clemente and golf enthusiasts Port Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and also Arnold Palmer.King had actually currently been rewarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican politician, says she possesses "faulty barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired many people to stand proudly along with nerve and also sentiment in the fight for what corrects.".