1. Short title This Act may be cited as the WWII Nurses Congressional Gold Medal Act . 2. Findings The Congress finds the following: (1) On December 8, 1941, the United States declared war against the Empire of Japan, followed by declarations of war against Germany and Italy on December 11, 1941. In 1935, there were fewer than 600 U.S. Army Nurses and 1,700 U.S. Navy Nurses on active duty. By the time World War II ended, more than 59,000 Army Nurses and 14,000 Navy Nurses had volunteered to serve. (2) The Army Reorganization Act of 1920 granted women in the Nurse Corps relative rank . This gave them the right to wear the military insignia, but did not confer military status or privileges. This arrangement meant women serving throughout WWII received 50 percent of the pay as compared to their male counterparts, and none of the veteran benefits. Because they did not receive military status, they received no orientation or training before being deployed to hospitals near the frontlines. (3) Nurses served under fire in field hospitals and evacuation hospitals across six continents, on hospital trains and ships, and as flight nurses on medical transport planes. Several nurses were killed in action when their ships were torpedoed or field hospitals were bombed. Some even entered into combat areas as flight nurses to retrieve the wounded, and 2 groups were captured as prisoners of war by the Japanese. (4) General Douglas MacArthur ordered Army Nurses to the Bataan Peninsula to prepare 2 emergency hospitals for U.S. and Filipino forces. General Hospital 1 received casualties directly from the front lines, and more than 1,200 battle casualties requiring major surgery were admitted within a month. General Hospital 2 accepted patients strong enough for evacuation, as it was out in the open, with no tents or buildings, and only tree canopy to conceal them from Japanese aircraft. Hospital 1 was bombed on March 29, 1942, killing or wounding more than 100 patients, but the nurses carried on with their duties as well as they