[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 57 (Wednesday, April 9, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H2944]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H2944]]
                               PAY EQUITY

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, go Huskies. But let me speak about an issue 
that I think the Huskies care about as well and that is pay equity, and 
I want to speak on an issue that is important to every woman and every 
family in America, one that has been ignored by this Chamber. Again, it 
is about pay equity. The issue of pay equity goes to the heart of what 
we fight for as working women. It is about ensuring that women who work 
every bit as hard as men and who play basketball every bit as hard as 
men are paid what they deserve. Fair pay is not a women's issue. It is 
a family issue.
  Two-earner families are not the only norm. Particularly in this 
economy, they are a necessity. Robbing women of their due worth robs 
entire families. It underminds their dreams, and that is why closing 
the wage gap must be an integral part of any pro-working family agenda. 
Today women are short-changed, undervalued to the tune of 76 cents on 
the dollar. For African American women, they earn only 69 cents for 
every dollar that men earn. Hispanic women, that number plummets to 56 
cents.
  I am reintroducing today the Paycheck Fairness Act, and what it would 
do for the first time is put wage discrimination on the basis of gender 
on the same footing as wage discrimination occurring on the basis of 
race or ethnicity. I ask this House leadership to please bring this 
legislation to the floor so that we can pass it.

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