[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 28, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E997]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN HONOR OF EQUAL PAY DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. AL GREEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 28, 2009

  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I wish to acknowledge and honor 
Equal Pay Day, a national day of recognition instituted by President 
Clinton in 1998 to raise awareness about the wage disparity and 
discrimination between men and women.
  America has made some strides in narrowing this discrepancy in the 
workplace, but the fight for equal pay for equal work still remains 
prevalent and pertinent today. Thirty-five years ago, when President 
Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women who worked full-time, 
year-round made 59 cents on average for every dollar earned by their 
male counterparts. In 2006, women earned 77 cents for every dollar 
earned by men; the figures are even more unsettling for women of color. 
This data demonstrates that the wage gap has narrowed by less than half 
a cent per year. An 18 cent increase over 35 years indicates a 
significant wage discrepancy between working men and women that leaves 
a great deal of work for the employers and decision makers of today. 
The day on which Equal Pay Day falls represents how far into the year 
on average a women must work to receive the same amount of pay that a 
man earned during the previous year.
  In the state of Texas, between 2004 and 2006, the average annual 
salary of men with a college degree or more was $63,000, while their 
female counterparts only received an average annual salary of $45,000 
with the same credentials. In comparison, during that same time frame, 
the national average annual salary for men with a college degree or 
more was $66,000, while their female counterparts received only 
$50,000. In fact, the state of Texas is about 5% below the national 
average in narrowing the wage disparity between men and women.
  A great woman and former congresswoman from Texas, Barbara Jordan, 
once said that, ``If the society of today allows wrongs to go 
unchallenged, the impression is created that those wrongs have the 
approval of the majority.'' To take the late Ms. Jordan's advice: we 
who live in today's society must not allow the wrongs created by wage 
discrimination to continue to undermine the civil liberties of 
minorities and women. On January 29, 2009, President Barack Obama 
signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to ensure that victims 
of pay discrimination can effectively challenge unequal pay, marking a 
significant step forward in the struggle for equality in pay and fair 
treatment in the workplace for all Americans. Though great progress is 
being made, significant challenges remain in the struggle against 
gender-based pay discrimination.
  I urge my colleagues and employers nationwide to take up the fight to 
eliminate the unfair wage discrepancy between men and women as we all 
honor Equal Pay Day.

                          ____________________