DELAURO CONTINUES FIGHT FOR EQUAL PAY

Washington, DC— Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3), Ranking Member on the Labor, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, made the following remarks in support of the Paycheck Fairness Act on the floor of the House of Representatives today.

Three years ago on January 29, 2009, President Obama signed the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law, which was an important step towards rectifying continuing pay discrimination in America. The Paycheck Fairness Act, first introduced by DeLauro in 1997, would go even further and strengthen the Equal Pay Act to ensure that women are paid equally for their work.

As Delivered

Three years ago this week the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was signed into law.

Named after a true hero, who was shortchanged by her employer for decades and who fought back all the way to the Supreme Court, the Lilly Ledbetter Act ensured that women who are discriminated against have the right to sue as long as their unequal pay continues.

This was a good first step, but we have to do more to achieve real pay equity in America. Today, women are still only paid 77 cents on the dollar as compared to men for the very same jobs.

They lose out on between $400,000 and $2 million dollars over a lifetime. This is an injustice. It is time to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, already passed twice by this body. It would give real teeth to the Equal Pay Act.

It has been almost fifty years since Congress passed the Equal Pay Act. It is time to ensure that one half of America's workforce is paid as fairly as the other half.