[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 25, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E855]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RECOGNIZING EQUAL PAY DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 24, 2007

  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in observation of Equal Pay 
Day, a day where we recognize that women and people of color continue 
to suffer the consequences of inequitable pay. This day symbolizes the 
time in the year which wages, especially paid to American women, catch 
up to the wages paid to men from the previous year.
  Ever since the Equal Pay Act was signed into law in 1963, the wage 
gap between men and women has only been closing at a slow rate. Back 
then, women who worked full-time year-round made 59 cents on average 
for every dollar earned by men. Even today, women only earn 77 cents to 
the dollar, which means that the gap has narrowed by less than half a 
cent per year. In 2006, there were 70.2 million women aged 16 and over 
in the workforce, which made up 46 percent of all workers, and 
reflected a significant increase from only 18.4 million working women 
in 1950. Over a working lifetime, this wage disparity costs the average 
American woman and her family $700,000 to $2 million in lost wages, and 
thus impacting social Security benefits and pensions.
  With the growing rate of women in the workforce, and more families 
reliant upon their paychecks for livelihood, the issue of equal pay is 
not simply a women's issue, but a family issue. The wage gap hurts 
everyone because it decreases a family's income that pays for their 
essential needs. When women earn more, the entire family benefits.
  For these reasons Madam Speaker, I am in strong support of the 
Paycheck Fairness Act. I hope that this Congress will bring new light 
to this bill do what has not been done over the past 40 years. It will 
be through our bipartisan efforts that we eradicate the unfair 
treatment of women in the labor market, and help families gain the 
resources they need to ensure that their children have access to a 
better future in the 21st century.

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