[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 56 (Thursday, April 22, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H2277]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 LET US COMMIT TO ENDING PAY INEQUITY ON ``TAKE YOUR DAUGHTER TO WORK 
                                 DAY''

  (Ms. SCHAKOWSKY asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, today is ``Take Your Daughter to Work 
Day,'' and on this day Democrats call for action to make sure that our 
daughters can earn the same wages as our sons.
  As we go into the 21st century, pay inequity is persistent and real. 
Today women must work for 14 months to earn what their male 
counterparts earn in a year. We earn 74 cents to every dollar that a 
man earns. In Illinois, my State, it is actually worse. Women earn only 
70 cents.
  Pay inequity hurts women and their families. Women lose about 
$420,000 in wages and benefits because of unfair pay practices. It is 
time to put an end to this very real and costly inequity in the 
workplace once and for all. Democrats, the gentlewoman from Connecticut 
(Ms. Rosa DeLauro), and I am proud to have joined her, have introduced 
the Paycheck Fairness Act, H.R. 541, to help eliminate the wage gap 
that still exists between men and women.
  When my granddaughter Isabel, who is just 1 year old, enters the work 
force, I certainly want to be part of the solution guaranteeing that 
she makes exactly what her male counterparts make.

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