[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 7, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H41]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       PAYCHECK FAIRNESS ACT AND THE LILLY LEDBETTER FAIR PAY ACT

  (Mrs. MALONEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, this week, this Congress will take up 
two tremendously important bills that will work towards ending 
discrimination against women who still earn 78 cents to the dollar. We 
hope to get it to the Senate, pass it in the Senate and have it on 
President Obama's desk as one of the first bills for him to sign.
  The Paycheck Fairness Act could be called the Free Speech Restoration 
Act because one of its features simply ensures that employees have the 
right to give out personal information on how much they make without 
being fired. Some of our corporations say, if you tell anyone how much 
you make, you will be fired.
  The second, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, says that you can no 
longer cap damages. You cannot cap the amount of time that a person can 
be discriminated against. The Supreme Court held that if you did not 
bring a case within 180 days about pay discrimination, you could never 
bring it. So for 18 years, Lilly Ledbetter was discriminated against, 
and this Supreme Court said she could not bring suit. This Congress is 
changing that with this bill.
  I urge a ``yes'' vote on these important bills.

                          ____________________