[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 100 (Wednesday, June 9, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S4000]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Paycheck Fairness

  Mr. President, on paycheck fairness, almost immediately, however, we 
saw the limits of bipartisanship in the Senate last evening, right 
after we voted on USICA, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act.
  Minutes after coming together to pass that sweeping competition bill, 
Senate Republicans mounted a partisan filibuster against a very 
straightforward piece of legislation to help provide equal pay to 
women.
  The vote was party line. Not a single Republican Senator voted in 
favor of even debating the bill. Sure, my colleagues might not like 
every aspect of Democratic legislation. I understand that. But if you 
want to change the bill, you have to let the Senate debate it and amend 
it.
  It is shocking that my Republican colleagues believe that the Senate 
has no role to play in defending the rights of women who are unfairly 
and illegally discriminated against in the workplace. For a reason that 
I can't understand, the issue of pay equity has become a partisan one, 
sadly. Democrats in favor; Republicans opposed--despite the fact that 
the issue isn't all that partisan out in the country. A solid majority 
of voters see pay equity as a problem and believe Congress has a role 
to play in solving it.
  It reminds me of gun safety. Ninety to ninety-five percent of America 
supports expanding background checks so that people who shouldn't get a 
gun--felons and others--don't. The vast majority of Republicans in the 
country, the vast majority of gun owners in the country, support that 
policy. Only in DC, among Republicans here in the Senate and in the 
House, is that issue remotely partisan, where Washington Republicans 
have traditionally opposed it.
  So before the press writes the latest Republican filibuster of equal 
pay legislation as just another chapter in the typical partisan games, 
just remember that the only place this issue is partisan is in 
Washington, with Republicans way out of touch with what the American 
people want.
  Americans across the country expect their government to make progress 
on big issues, even if we don't agree on everything. But yesterday, 
sadly, Senate Republicans once again chose the path of obstruction and 
gridlock