[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 61 (Monday, April 28, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E589]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             EQUAL PAY DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. YVETTE D. CLARKE

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 28, 2014

  Ms. CLARKE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today 
outraged and baffled that we are in the 21st century and still have to 
have an Equal Pay Day. Equal Pay Day symbolizes when, more than three 
months into the year, women's wages finally catch up to what men were 
paid in the previous year.
  Why this is still being debated when the Equal Pay Act was passed 51 
years ago is crazy.
  How can we as a nation begin to justify unequal pay simply because 
you are a man and I am a woman? Why does my gender diminish my value to 
the workforce?
  I, and all women, am not asking for any more than what we deserve for 
being productive, valuable employees.
  Today, in 2014, women earn 77 cents for every dollar that a man 
earns. This is outrageous. It gets even worse for women of color. Black 
women only earn 64 percent and Hispanic women, even less, just 53 
percent of what white men earn. I am appalled by this, and so are the 
American people. Not only does my gender decrease my pay, but my race 
does as well.
  According to the American Association of University Women, African-
American and Hispanic women are paid less than their white peers even 
when they have the same educational background.
  There are a record number of women in the workplace and two-thirds of 
women are the primary or co-bread winner in their families. Consider 
the position that the American family, our economy and our nation would 
be in if we all agreed that women should have equal pay for equal work. 
Our President said it best, ``When women succeed, America succeeds.''
  Women are losing money every year and every hour due to the pay gap. 
It is time to close the loopholes in the Equal Pay Act.
  I urge Speaker Boehner to bring H.R. 377 the Paycheck Fairness Act to 
the floor.

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