{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-congratulates-tennis-great-billie-jean-king-for-winning-the-congressional-gold-medal", "Reed Congratulates Tennis Great Billie Jean King for Winning the Congressional Gold Medal", "2024-09-28", "2024", "2024-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", "jackreed", "https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Recognizing tennis great Billie Jean King\u2019s groundbreaking contributions both on and off the court, President Joe Biden signed legislation into law this week honoring Billie Jean King, 80, as the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.\n\nU.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) cosponsored bipartisan legislation (S. 2861) to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Billie Jean King, a tennis legend and American icon who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island in 1987 and presented with her official Hall of Fame ring in 2015.\n\nSenator Reed congratulated King, stating: \u201cA champion on and off the court, Billie Jean King was known for having a great serve and serving as a great role model and advancing equality. She transcends sports and is someone who has blazed a trail and leveled the playing field to give others more opportunities than she herself had. I congratulate her for earning this well-deserved achievement and I know she\u2019ll continue to serve as an ambassador for the sport and an inspiration for future generations.\u201d\n\nThroughout her career, Billie Jean King\u2019s outstanding play and groundbreaking leadership and advocacy helped advance equal rights for women in athletics, education, and society at large. King was instrumental in securing equal prize money in men\u2019s and women\u2019s tennis at the U.S. Open, spearheaded the formation of the Women\u2019s Tennis Association, and brought worldwide attention to pay equality throughout her career and in her \u201cBattle of the Sexes\u201d match against Bobby Riggs.\n\nThe U.S. Open, which began in 1881 as a men's-only game on grass courts in Newport, Rhode Island, is now held annually in Flushing, Queens, at the U.S. Tennis Association\u2019s (USTA) Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Thanks in large part to the unrelenting activism of Billie Jean King, the U.S. Open became the first sporting event to offer equal prize money to female and male competitors.\n\nOver the course of her career, King captured 39 Grand Slam tennis titles in singles (12), doubles (16) and mixed doubles (11).\n\nCommissioned by Congress, the Congressional Gold Medal has been awarded as an expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions to society. Prior to Billie Jean King earning the award this year, it had been bestowed upon several individual athletes, including Jackie Robinson, Jesse Owens, Roberto Clemente, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Byron Nelson, Willie O\u2019Ree, Greg LeMond, Larry Doby, Joe Louis, as well as the 1980 U.S. Olympic team.\n\nOnce again, Billie Jean King blazed a trail that others will undoubtedly follow.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-congratulates-tennis-great-billie-jean-king-for-winning-the-congressional-gold-medal"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0250192135572433, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}