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DeLauro Delivers Floor Remarks on the Paycheck Fairness Act

April 15, 2021

WASHINGTONHouse Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) delivered the following remarks on the House Floor in support of her bill, The Paycheck Fairness Act. A video of DeLauro's remarks can be found here.

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The Paycheck Fairness Act

Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Paycheck Fairness Act. It's legislation that I have introduced in every Congress since 1997.

And since then, we have pushed and battled to strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963. We launched, side-by-side, into the fray to elevate pay discrimination, to emphasize how central its impact is to working families.

I cannot tell you how difficult it has been to break through on something so simple. Men and women in the same job deserve the same pay. It's a principle that we adhere to in this Congress, and I don't believe anyone would challenge it. And the same is true of the U.S. military.

Last month, we recognized Equal Pay Day on March 24th. The day on which into the current year women must work to meet the wages earned by men in the previous year. The National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) tells us, at its lowest point in 1973, full-time, working women earned a median of 56.6 cents to every dollar that full-time, working men earned. Today, women who work full time, year-round are paid, on average, only 82 cents for every dollar paid to men.

The gap exists in every state, regardless of geography, occupation, education, or work patterns. And it is worse for women of color. Latinas are typically paid 55 cents, Native American women 60 cents, Black women 63 cents, Asian American and Pacific Islander women are paid as little as 52 cents. This wage disparity costs the average American woman and her family an estimated $400,000 to $2 million, impacting Social Security benefits and pensions.

Today, the issue and the environment have collided. This pandemic has brought out the depth of our problems, exposed existing inequalities, and threatened women's economic security at a disproportionate rate. Women have lost more than 5 million jobs. And as we seek to rebuild our economy, let us remember that the pay gap hurts not only women but also the families who depend on them.

The Paycheck Fairness Act is a bipartisan piece of legislation. Has the support of every member of the Democratic Caucus as well as three Republicans. It would toughen remedies in the Equal Pay Act of 1963 to give America's working women the opportunity to fight wage discrimination and receive the paycheck they have rightfully earned.

It would:

  • Require employers to prove that pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related issues,
  • Bans retaliation against workers who discuss their wages,
  • It facilitates a wronged worker's participation in a class action suit,
  • And it prohibits employers from seeking the salary history of prospective employees.

And by now, we are all familiar with the case of Lilly Ledbetter. Her bosses said, and I quote, "their plant did not need women. Women did not help and in fact, they caused problems." Well, a jury found that, yes, Lilly Ledbetter had been discriminated against, awarded her $3.8 million in back pay and damages, which the Supreme Court eliminated – she received nothing – as it closed the courtroom door to all women. We, the Congress, reopened that door with the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. It reversed the Supreme Court's decision. It was a court access case, but it did not address the underlying issue of pay discrimination.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 in his state of the union address said, "Legislation to apply the principle of equal pay for equal work without discrimination because of sex is a matter of simple justice. I earnestly urge the Congress to move swiftly to implement these needed labor measures."

When President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law nearly 58 years ago, he said: "It is a first step. It affirms our determination that when women enter the labor force, they will find equality in their pay envelopes." The Paycheck Fairness Act is the next step: It simply brings the Equal Pay Act into line with the remedies already available for those who are subject to other forms of employment discrimination. That is it – pure and simple.

We passed Paycheck Fairness through this House: 2008, 2009, 2019. But, now, in the 117th Congress in which we welcomed the most women in our history, we must get it into law.

We have the opportunity to make good on that promise that presidents of both parties have made. We need to seize that moment. It is time for us to say that the work that women do in our society today is valued, and respected, and a contribution that we make. If it is good enough for the women in the House of Representatives, then it is good enough for women all over the United States.

And with that, I ask unanimous consent to place into the record a letter supporting the Paycheck Fairness Act by a broad coalition of organizations that promote economic opportunity for women.