[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 21, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E430]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         PAYCHECK FAIRNESS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 15, 2021

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Paycheck 
Fairness Act (H.R. 7).
  I am a proud cosponsor of this legislation which seeks to end the 
wage gap once and for all. Women in America, especially women of color, 
make far less than their male counterparts. While we have made progress 
closing this gap in recent years, this past year has the potential to 
set this movement back by decades.
  The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women. Unstable 
childcare and disruptions to school schedules have forced millions of 
mothers to leave the workforce. Additionally, women disproportionately 
work lower wage hourly jobs that have been slashed across the country 
due to store closings and other pandemic-related restrictions. This has 
resulted in women suffering the majority of pandemic-related job 
losses. Women also hold a greater share of frontline essential jobs 
that have faced greater risks of exposure such as nurses, teachers, 
home health care providers, flight attendants, transportation workers, 
grocery store clerks, childcare providers, and countless other 
positions. Simply put, we are getting through this pandemic and are on 
the brink of beating COVID-19 because of the tireless work of American 
women--and they deserve tangible support.
  On Equal Pay Day earlier this year, I led a joint statement with 
Congresswoman Grace Meng, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, 
Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, and 32 other Democratic women in 
Congress highlighting the disproportionate effect COVID-19 has had on 
women and calling for structured relief. Therefore, I would like to 
include in the Record that statement.
  Again, I rise in strong support of the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 7) 
and I urge my colleagues to pass this important legislation.
                                                   March 24, 2021.
       Today is Equal Pay Day, the day in 2021 where women's 
     earnings finally caught up to what men earned in 2020. While 
     strides had been made to close this earnings gap, this past 
     year has the potential of erasing years of progress because 
     of the disproportionate impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had 
     on women.
       The pandemic has dealt an unprecedented blow to every 
     aspect of American society, taking more than half a million 
     lives and costing our economy trillions of dollars. Our 
     nation is facing multiple crises: the COVID-19 virus, 
     economic uncertainty, and a caregiving shortage. As such, 
     while the pandemic has caused virtually every American to 
     struggle in some fashion, the brunt of this disaster has been 
     felt by women--especially women of color.
       Due to unstable child care and disruptions to school 
     schedules, millions of mothers have been forced to leave the 
     workforce to care for a child. Roughly 10 million working 
     mothers have a child age 6 or younger, and many of these 
     women have been forced to leave their jobs to care for their 
     children. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
     865,000 women left the labor force in September 2020 alone--
     more than four times the number of men who left the labor 
     force that month.
       Women are being forced out of the workforce for other 
     reasons as well. Women disproportionately work lower wage 
     hourly jobs that have been slashed across the country due to 
     store closings and other pandemic-related restrictions. This 
     has resulted in women suffering the majority of pandemic-
     related job losses, totaling more than 5.4 million net jobs, 
     or 55 percent of the overall net job loss since the start of 
     the crisis. This is especially true for Black, Latina, Asian 
     American and Pacific Islander, and Native American women who 
     are significantly more likely to work hourly jobs that have 
     either been eliminated or have had their hours greatly 
     reduced over the last year.
       Even women who have maintained their job during this crisis 
     have disproportionately been affected. Women hold a greater 
     share of frontline essential jobs that have faced greater 
     risks of exposure, such as nurses, teachers, home health care 
     providers, flight attendants, transportation workers, grocery 
     store clerks, child care providers, and countless other 
     positions. Simply put, we are getting through this pandemic 
     and are on the brink of beating COVID-19 because of the 
     tireless work of American women--and they deserve tangible 
     support.
       While we are encouraged by the passage of the American 
     Rescue Plan and strongly support the provisions that help 
     protect working women, we also encourage our colleagues to 
     consider this package as a down payment. We need 
     transformational structural change to fight against the 
     economic, financial, gender, and racial injustices. We need 
     massive investments in our child care infrastructure, 
     including universal child care and early learning, $15 
     minimum wage, and paid leave programs; without these, women 
     will be set back a generation by this pandemic.
       For decades, women have unionized and joined forces to 
     fight for fair hiring practices, workplace protections, and 
     our ongoing fight for equal pay. We simply cannot turn this 
     clock back and we must continue to protect our right to 
     organize and in doing so, fight to narrow the income gap. It 
     will take all of us to dedicate the needed energy and 
     resources to ensure that our daughters and granddaughters do 
     not need to acknowledge Equal Pay Day in future years to 
     come.
           Sincerely,
       Betty McCollum, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Grace Meng, Brenda 
     Lawrence, Barbara Lee, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Chrissy 
     Houlahan, Angie Craig, Sara Jacobs, Eleanor Holmes Norton, 
     Marcy Kaptur, Nikema Williams, Gwen Moore, Carolyn Bourdeaux, 
     Bonnie Watson Coleman, Grace F. Napolitano, Dina Titus, Robin 
     L. Kelly, Katie Porter, Jackie Speier, Nanette Diaz Barragan, 
     Rosa L. DeLaura, Marie Newman, Debbie Dingell, Judy Chu, Rosa 
     L. DeLauro, Doris Matsui, Cori Bush, Nydia M. Velazquez, 
     Pramila Jayapal, Jahana Hayes, Ilhan Omar, Linda T. Sanchez, 
     Eddie Bernice Johnson, Jan Schakowsky, Lauren Underwood, 
     Members of Congress.

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