LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION urging the New York State Congressional deleg-
ation to support the Women Airforce Service Pilot Arlington Inurnment
Restoration Act, S.2437/H.R. 4336

WHEREAS, The federal legislation known as the Women Airforce Service
Pilot Arlington Inurnment Restoration Act would direct the Department of
the Army to ensure that the cremated remains of persons who served as
Women's Air Force Service Pilots are eligible for interment in Arlington
National Cemetery with full military honors; and
WHEREAS, The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) were a group of
1,102 women who earned their Silver Wings and who flew non-combat
missions during World War II; their missions included ferrying aircraft
across the country, training combat pilots, and towing airborne targets
for other aircraft; 38 WASP women died during the war; and
WHEREAS, In 1942, General Henry "Hap" Arnold created the WASP unit
with the intention of granting them full military status, though
Congress never approved the plan; the program ran from 1942 to 1944; and
WHEREAS, In 1977, Congress passed legislation retroactively granting
active duty status to WASP pilots for the purposes of all laws adminis-
tered by the Veterans Administration (VA); and
WHEREAS, In 2009, Congress awarded the WASP the Congressional Gold
Medal; and
WHEREAS, In 2002, Arlington National Cemetery, which is operated by
the United States Army, approved active duty designees, including WASP
pilots, for military honors and inurnments, however, in March 2015, then
Secretary of the Army John McHugh reversed this decision; and
WHEREAS, WASP's are eligible to be buried in all the Department of
Veterans Affairs National Cemeteries including the five VA national
cemeteries open for interments in New York: Bath (Bath); Woodlawn (Elmi-
ra); Gerald B. Solomon Saratoga (Schuylerville); Calverton (Calverton);
and Long Island (Farmingdale) national cemeteries; and
WHEREAS, The National WASP Museum began in 2002 in Sweetwater, Texas;
the grand opening was held on May 28th, the same day the first class of
WASP graduated 60 years earlier; and
WHEREAS, The Women's Airforce Service Pilot Arlington Inurment Resto-
ration Act (WASP AIR) is endorsed by the Military Officer's Association
of America, the Air Force Association, the Distinguished Flying Cross
Society, the Service Women's Action Network, the Women In International
Service (WIIS) and the National Women's Law Center; now, therefore, be
it
RESOLVED, That the New York State Congressional delegation be and
hereby is respectfully memorialized by this Legislative Body to support
the passage of the Women Airforce Service Pilot Arlington Inurnment
Restoration Act, S.2437/H.R. 4336; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the President of the Senate of the United States, the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, and to each member of the Congressional
delegation from New York State.