[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 138 (Tuesday, August 3, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S5720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 12--RECOGNIZING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF EQUAL 
     PAY AND THE DISPARITY IN WAGES PAID TO MEN AND TO BLACK WOMEN

  Mr. WARNOCK (for himself, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Booker, 
Mr. Brown, Mr. Cardin, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. 
Gillibrand, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Menendez, Mrs. Murray, Mr. 
Ossoff, Mr. Padilla, Ms. Smith, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Warren, Mr. Wyden, 
Mr. Kaine, and Mr. Bennet) submitted the following concurrent 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions:

                            S. Con. Res. 12

       Whereas August 3, 2021, is Black Women's Equal Pay Day, 
     which marks the day that symbolizes how long into 2021 Black 
     women must work to make what White, non-Hispanic men were 
     paid in 2020;
       Whereas section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
     1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)) prohibits discrimination in 
     compensation for equal work on the basis of sex;
       Whereas title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 
     U.S.C. 2000e et seq.) prohibits discrimination in 
     compensation because of race, color, religion, national 
     origin, or sex;
       Whereas despite the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 
     (29 U.S.C. 206 note) 5 decades ago, which requires that men 
     and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for equal 
     work, Census Bureau data show that Black women working full 
     time, year round, are paid 63 cents for every dollar paid to 
     White, non-Hispanic men;
       Whereas if the current trends continue, on average, Black 
     women will have to wait 100 years to achieve equal pay;
       Whereas the median annual pay for a Black woman in the 
     United States working full time, year round, is $41,098, 
     which means that, on average, Black women lose nearly 
     $964,400 in potential earnings to the wage gap over the 
     course of a 40-year career;
       Whereas lost wages mean Black women have less money to 
     support themselves and their families, save and invest for 
     the future, and spend on goods and services, causing 
     businesses and the economy to suffer as a result;
       Whereas Black women's median earnings are less than men's 
     at every level of academic achievement;
       Whereas, in the United States, more than 80 percent of 
     Black mothers are key breadwinners or co-breadwinners for 
     their families, but Black mothers working full time are paid 
     only 52 percent as much as fathers;
       Whereas the lack of access to affordable, quality 
     childcare, paid family and medical leave, paid sick leave, 
     and other family-friendly workplace policies contributes to 
     the wage gap by forcing many Black women to choose between 
     their paycheck or job and getting quality care for themselves 
     or their family members;
       Whereas if the wage gap were eliminated, on average, a 
     Black woman working full time would have enough money for 
     approximately 2.5 additional years of tuition and fees for a 
     4-year public university, the full cost of tuition and fees 
     for a 2-year community college, more than 16 additional 
     months of premiums for employer-based health insurance, 153 
     weeks of food for her family, 15 additional months of 
     mortgage and utilities payments, 22 more months of rent, 
     nearly 20 additional years of birth control, or enough money 
     to pay off student loan debt in just over 1 year;
       Whereas 25 to 85 percent of women have been sexually 
     harassed at the workplace, and research has found that only a 
     small number of women who experience harassment, about 1 in 
     10, formally report incidents for reasons including lack of 
     access to the complaints processes and fear of retaliation;
       Whereas workplace harassment forces many women to leave 
     their occupation or industry;
       Whereas targets of harassment were 6.5 times as likely as 
     nontargets to change jobs or pass up opportunities for 
     advancement, contributing to the gender wage gap;
       Whereas Black women were the most likely of all racial and 
     ethnic groups to have filed a sexual harassment charge;
       Whereas nearly two-thirds of workers paid the minimum wage 
     or less are women, and there is an overrepresentation of 
     women of color in low-wage and tipped occupations;
       Whereas more than 62 percent of women working in the 
     private sector reported that they were either discouraged or 
     prohibited from discussing wage and salary information, which 
     can hide pay discrimination and prevent remedies;
       Whereas the pay disparity Black women face is part of a 
     wider set of disparities Black women face in home ownership, 
     unemployment, poverty, access to childcare, and the ability 
     to accumulate wealth;
       Whereas the gender wage gap for Black women has only 
     narrowed by 3 cents in the last 3 decades;
       Whereas true pay equity requires a multifaceted strategy 
     that addresses the gendered and racial injustices that Black 
     women face daily;
       Whereas the pandemic has disproportionately economically 
     impacted Black women; and
       Whereas many national organizations have designated August 
     3, 2021, as Black Women's Equal Pay Day to represent the 
     additional time that women must work to compensate for the 
     lower wages paid to Black women last year: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) recognizes the disparity in wages paid to Black women 
     and its impact on women, families, and the United States; and
       (2) reaffirms its support for ensuring equal pay for equal 
     work and narrowing the gender wage gap.

                          ____________________