DeLauro Statement on the President’s Executive Action to Fight for Equal Pay

WASHINGTON, DC (January 29, 2016) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) released the following statement today regarding the Obama Administration’s new executive action on equal pay.

“Today’s executive action by President Obama is another step forward in our fight to ensure equal pay for equal work and I thank him for fighting for women and working families. Seven years after he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law, we still have much more work to do to close the gender pay gap. Women earn on average just 79 percent of what men earn. We can do better and it is time that we make equal pay for equal work a reality for everyone.

“Now that the President has acted, Congress should do the same and pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation I introduced last year with Senator Mikulski to strengthen the Equal Pay Act and ensure equal pay for equal work. For far too long Republicans in Congress have worked to block this legislation and I will not stop fighting for the women and working families who depend on an equal paycheck. The economy is not working for everyone and we can change that.”

Today’s executive action by the President would annually collect summary pay data by gender, race, and ethnicity from businesses with 100 or more employees. This action would cover more than 63 million employees nationwide and would help focus public enforcement of equal pay laws and provide better insight into discriminatory pay practices across industries and occupations. It expands on and replaces an earlier plan by the Department of Labor to collect similar information from federal contractors.

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