WASHINGTON — Lawmakers cleared the way Wednesday for female pilots from World War II to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, the vast military cemetery just outside Washington.
The House and Senate both unanimously approved legislation to allow the cremated remains of about 1,000 women who served as Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, in the 1940s to be buried there.
The Senate passed the bill late Tuesday and the House approved it Wednesday, sending it to the White House for President Barack Obama to sign into law.
The women performed training and transport missions in the United States during the conflict so male pilots could be sent overseas.
Unlike male veterans, however, they could not be interred at Arlington, the best-known but very crowded U.S. military cemetery, because authorities have insisted their service was not the same as active duty.
The bill was sponsored by Republican Rep. Martha McSally of Arizona, who was the first woman U.S. Air Force pilot to fly combat missions.
An earlier version of the legislation — with a few technical differences from the final version passed Wednesday — passed the House unanimously in March.