[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 43 (Monday, April 14, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E642-E643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TIME TO PUT EQUITY FOR WOMEN BACK ON THE AMERICAN AGENDA

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 10, 1997

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the 
Fair Pay Act of 1997, a bill that would ensure that men and women 
receive the same wages for equal

[[Page E643]]

work. It could not be more appropriate to discuss this bill today, 
because tomorrow is Pay Inequity Day. Pay Inequity Day is April 11--
3\1/2\ months into 1997--and it is the day on which women's earnings 
finally equal those of men for the previous calendar year.
  Pay inequity is no longer just a women's issue. It is one that 
intimately affects many American families as more and more American 
families rely on women's wages. An increasing number of families are 
headed by single working women. Many more families, those with two 
parents, find that to make ends meet it is necessary for both parents 
to work. In two-parent families, 66 percent of women work and the 
number of female-headed households has more than doubled since 1970.
  At a time when families are increasingly dependent on the money 
earned by their female members, women with similar qualifications still 
earn less than 72 cents for every dollar earned by men in comparable 
jobs. Over her lifetime, a woman loses more than $420,000 to pay 
inequity. Wage discrimination costs all women together more than $100 
billion a year. This is money that the American family can ill afford 
to lose.
  I ask that my colleagues support this important legislation that will 
address gender pay inequity and in so doing take a stand to help 
America's working families.

                          ____________________