[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 42 (Thursday, April 10, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H1394]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      LET US PASS THE FAIR PAY ACT

  (Ms. VELAZQUEZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Fair Pay 
Act. It is shameful that such a law is necessary, but it is. While my 
Republican colleagues have spent the first hundred days of this 
Congress on extended vacation let me assure my colleagues that the 
women of this Nation have been out there working hard for a lot less 
money.
  Mr. Speaker, how it is possible that women have to work until April 
11 to make what men earned the year before for the same work. How do we 
allow employers to continue to discriminate against women by paying 
them 72 cents for every dollar they pay their male employees.
  The Fair Pay Act requires employers to pay equal wages for equal 
work. This bill would also prohibit wage discrimination based on race 
and national origin.
  In 1992, Hispanic women earned half as much as white men for 
compatible work, half as much. This is a disgrace. It is time to send a 
message that we will no longer tolerate this. Let us pass the Fair Pay 
Act.

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