DeLauro Calls On Republicans to Ensure Equal Pay for Equal Work

Takes Steps to Force a Paycheck Fairness Act Vote onthe House Floor

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) todaycalled on her Republican colleagues to ensure equal pay for equal work. Thismorning she filed a discharge petition on the Paycheck Fairness Act,which—if it obtains 218 signatures—would automatically force the bill to theHouse floor for a vote. The Paycheck Fairness Act currently has 192cosponsors. This afternoon House Democrats will put forth a motion, known asthe Previous Question, which would enable them to call up the PaycheckFairness Act for a vote.

"The Republican House Majority needs to allow a straight upor down vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act. This legislation has twicepassed the House of Representatives on a bipartisan basis and gained a majorityof votes in the United States Senate. A majority of Americans support thiscommon-sense legislation that helps not just women, but their families whosuffer when women bring home smaller paychecks."

Nationwide women make just 77 cents for every dollar made bytheir male counterparts. This costs women and their families about $434,000over their careers.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would close the loopholesthat allow pay discrimination to continue nearly 50 years after passage of the EqualPay Act. The bill would require employers to show pay disparity is trulyrelated to job performance—not gender. It also prohibits employer retaliationfor sharing salary information with coworkers. Under current law employers cansue and punish employees for sharing such information, ensuring many womennever know they are being paid less than men doing the same job.

Tuesday, April 9 marked Equal Pay Day, the day when womenfinally make the same amount of money that their male counterparts made theprevious year.