[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 47 (Tuesday, March 14, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S758]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Equal Pay Day

  Mr. President, on a related note, it was 60 years ago that John 
Kennedy, as President, signed the Equal Pay Act. The law was simple. 
Here is what it said: Women should not be paid less than men for the 
same work--simple. Yet, 60 years later, we are still not there--60 
years.
  Today is Equal Pay Day in America. Let me tell you what that means. 
This is the day when the average American woman will finally earn as 
much as the average man did last year. In other words, on average, it 
takes women 15\1/2\ months to earn as much as men do in America in 12 
months.
  The pay gap persists despite the law I told you about. Here is the 
reality: Women in America are still paid less than men even when they 
do exactly the same job. On average, a woman in America makes 82 cents 
for every dollar a man makes. This means that women who work full time 
year-round lose up to $400,000 over the course of their working lives. 
When you include part-time and seasonal workers, women make only 77 
cents for every dollar a man makes. The pay gap gets even wider for 
women of color, who lose up to $1 million over the course of their 
working lives. And less pay during your working years means less 
retirement income, we all know.
  Apologists offer all kinds of explanations and justifications, but 
the persistent pay gap among men and women is sexism, plain and simple. 
And it doesn't just hurt women; it hurts their families, who depend on 
them. Additionally, while men's wages rise throughout their lives, 
women's wages rise more slowly, and the gap widens if they have 
children.
  President Biden's budget proposal contains a number of important 
measures that will help working families make ends meet. It includes 
affordable childcare--what a high priority that is for every working 
parent--and paid family and medical leave so that women, who are also 
primary caregivers in most families, don't have to stop working to care 
for a loved one.
  But those measures, as necessary as they are, will not close the 
inexcusable pay gap for women. We need to pass the Paycheck Fairness 
Act, closing loopholes in equal pay after finally giving women the 
tools they need to hold employers accountable if they break equal pay 
laws.
  House and Senate Democrats reintroduced this essential legislation 
last week. I want to thank my colleague Senator Patty Murray, chairman 
of the Appropriations Committee, in particular for her leadership on 
this issue.
  We are committed to passing the Paycheck Fairness Act, and we need 
Republicans to make it happen. If they believe in fairness, as I think 
we all do, if you care about the financial security of working 
families, stand with us, and let's finally pass this bill.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Oklahoma.