DeLauro Fights for Paycheck Fairness

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3) praised the President's endorsement of the Paycheck Fairness Act and his call for the Senate to pass the legislation, which will strengthen the Equal Pay Act and ensure that women are paid equally for their work. Echoing recommendations issued today by the National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force, the President urged the Senate to take up the legislation originally introduced by Congresswoman DeLauro in 1997. Passed by the House of Representatives last year, the bill now awaits action in the Senate.

"In America today, women make up half of our workforce—and yet, they still only make 77 cents on the dollar as compared to men. And if you look at this statistic even closer, you find that African American women make just 61 cents on the dollar, and Hispanic women only make 52 cents. In 2010, an incredible 47 years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act, which was supposed to ensure equal pay for equal work, and 13 years after I first introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act, these numbers are shocking.

"And it is not just women who are feeling the effects of this continued pay discrimination. With more and more American families each day depending on women as breadwinners, our entire economy is being impacted. That is why it is so essential that we pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would strengthen and enforce the Equal Pay Act. By giving this legislation the real teeth it needs, through pay justification, prohibiting retaliation concerning salary information, and enforcing punitive and compensatory damages, we can ensure that this workplace inequity ends.

"The House of Representatives has already passed this critical legislation, and I am so pleased that the President has added his voice in calling for the Senate to act. The recommendations put forth by the National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force today clearly show the Paycheck Fairness Act to be a critical element in ending pay discrimination in our country. On behalf of all of America's women, I urge my colleagues in the Senate to move, and at long last, to make this bill the law of the land."