[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 3, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3350-S3351]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mr. Akaka, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Durbin, 
        Mr. Inouye, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Leahy, Ms. Mikulski, 
        Mrs. Murray, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Torricelli, Mr. Wellstone, and 
        Mr. Feingold):
  S. 684. A bill to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to 
prohibit discrimination in the payment of wages on account of sex, 
race, or national original, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to be joined today by 
Senators Murray, Mikulski, Boxer, Stabenow, Kennedy, Durbin, 
Torricelli, Leahy, Inouye, Akaka, Kerry, Wellstone and Feingold to 
reintroduce the Fair Pay Act, a bill to combat pay discrimination 
against women.
  You might think since Congress passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, the 
wage gap wouldn't exist. Unfortunately, however, women continue to be 
paid only 76-cents for every dollar a white man earns according to the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics. Women of color experience the most severe 
pay

[[Page S3351]]

inequities: African American women earn only 62-cents on the dollar, 
Hispanic women only 54 cents.
  Earlier today, I released a draft report by the Department of Labor's 
Women's Bureau that helps to explain the wage gap and gives us insight 
into fixing it.
  This report was done based on my request in the FY 2000 Labor-HHS 
Appropriations bill. I asked the Women's Bureau to analyze wage data 
from federal contractors collected over the last two years, focusing on 
the causes of the wage gap between men and women. This is the first 
time in at least a decade that such a comprehensive review and analysis 
of wage data was conducted.
  This three-part draft report, finalized by the Department of Labor in 
January, used updated wage data, including detailed data gathered from 
a sample of nearly 5,000 of our nation's federal contractors.
  This report confirms that the wage gap is real, it's caused in large 
part by discrimination and women in female-dominated jobs suffer the 
most. Specifically, the report found that at least one-third, or about 
11 cents on the dollar, of the pay gap is caused by pay discrimination 
against women.
  How'd we get there? The study found if you compare women and men, in 
the same jobs, in the same firm, with the same experience and skills, 
they are still only paid 89 cents for every dollar a man earns. That 
11-cent gap is unexplained, and is what we believe is pay 
discrimination.
  But if you look at women's overall pay against men, when you take 
into account all of the women who are segregated into what's considered 
``women's work'' and receive lower wages, the pay gap becomes 28 cents.
  If this kind of occupational segregation were eliminated, the wage 
gap would close between 10 and 40 percent, according to this report.
  It doesn't have to be this way. We can start closing the pay gap 
right now by simply paying women what they're worth. That's where the 
Fair Pay Act comes in.
  The Fair Pay Act would require that employers pay their workers based 
on skills, effort, responsibility and effort, regardless if the job is 
considered so-called ``women's work.''
  Millions of women today work in so-called ``women's jobs,'' as 
secretaries, child care workers, social workers and nurses. These jobs 
are often ``equivalent'' in skills, effort, responsibility and working 
conditions to similar jobs dominated by men. But these women aren't 
paid the same as the men. Work that women have traditionally done 
continues to be undervalued and underpaid.
  That's what the Fair Pay Act would address.
  Our bill says that pay discrimination based on the number of women in 
a job is not only un-American, but it is also illegal.
  It doesn't make sense that a nurse practitioner earns less than a 
physician's assistant. Or that a lead administrative assistant makes 
less than a city bus driver. Or that a social worker earns less than a 
parole officer.
  I've heard the argument that we don't need the Fair Pay Act, that 
``market forces'' will eventually take care of it. The market can't and 
isn't supposed to take care of everything. You can't fix discrimination 
with the ``invisible hand.''
  Take a look at this chart of the wage gap over the last 20 years. If 
we continue to rely on ``market forces,'' it will be another century 
before there's true pay equity for women.
  In fact, this study accounts for market forces, and it says that pay 
in women's jobs has increased, but not nearly enough.
  If we had relied on market forces in the past, our country never 
would have set a minimum wage and we wouldn't be taking Family Medical 
Leave to care for our newborns or loved ones. We never would have had 
the Equal Pay Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  Some argue that its impossible to compare the wages of different 
jobs. But, it's done all the time by labor consultants who use ``point 
systems'' based on skills, responsibility and effort required to 
determine the value of a job. Jobs that are different may still receive 
the same total score, meaning, the jobs should be paid about the same. 
Companies would also develop their own evaluation systems and set their 
own wages.
  My state and 19 others have ``fair pay'' laws and policies in place 
for their public employees, and my state has never been stronger.
  Fair pay is not just a women's issue. It's a working family issue. 
It's a retirement issue. When women aren't paid what they're worth, we 
all get cheated. And national polls show that fair pay is a top 
priority for women.
  So I urge my colleagues to support the Fair Pay Act, we owe it to 
America's working women and their families.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I am pleased to join as a cosponsor of 
the Fair Pay Act. I hope that this is the Congress that will see this 
important piece of legislation enacted. I fear the consequences if we 
do not.
  For thirty-eight years, since enactment of the Equal Pay Act in 1963, 
we have been striving to close the pay gap between men and women. We 
have made some progress, but not nearly enough.
  Today, despite all efforts, women on average earn only 77 cents for 
each dollar that men earn. That's simply not acceptable. As Susan 
Dailey, U.S. President of the National Business and Professional Women 
said, ``Is it acceptable then for women to leave at 1:48 on Thursday 
afternoon because that's three quarters of a work week?'' No, these 
differentials are simply not acceptable.
  Due to the wage gap, it is estimated that the average 25-year-old 
woman will lose approximately $500,000 over her working lifetime.
  That's unfair, it's unjust. And for that reason alone, we need to 
support legislation that will address the root causes of this pay 
inequity.
  But not only is it unjust to women, it's unfair to the whole family. 
It is estimated that the wage gap annually costs America's working 
families $200 billion. Over ten years that's $2 trillion in lost income 
to families as a result of wage disparities. That's more than the 
entire tax cut the Bush Administration is anxious to give back to the 
wealthiest 1 percent of the population!
  This bill can lift families out of poverty. If married women were 
paid the same as men, their families' rate of poverty would fall by 
more than 60 percent. If single working mothers earned as much as their 
male counterparts, their poverty rates would be cut in half.
  That's what this bill is about, paying everyone a decent wage, the 
wage they deserve, so that they can support their families with 
dignity.
  I'm proud that my home state of Minnesota is a leader on this issue. 
Our state comparable worth law is one of the strongest on the books and 
serves as a model for other states. In Minnesota, under our law, both 
state and municipal employees get the benefits of this important 
protection.
  I hope we can follow suit on the federal level. I urge my colleagues 
to act swiftly on this important measure.
                                 ______