[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12730]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 12730]]

          COMMEMORATING THE 36TH ANNIVERSARY OF EQUAL PAY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 14, 1999

  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, thirty-six years ago today, President 
Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act. In 1963, when this law was enacted, 
women earned only 58 cents for every dollar earned by men.
  Since then, women have made great strides. For example, women are now 
a major part of our Nation's workforce and have started their own 
businesses in record numbers. Women are being admitted to college and 
graduating at rates on par with men, often breaking into many fields 
which were formerly open only to men.
  Yet in spite of these gains, the wage gap between men and women still 
persists. Today women earn only 75 cents for every dollar a man earns, 
and for minority women, the wage gap is even greater. African American 
women earn 65 cents and Hispanic women only 55 cents for every dollar 
earned by a man.
  The tragedy of this wage discrepancy is highlighted by the fact that 
four out of every five households depend on a woman's income just to 
make ends meet. This crisis is further exacerbated by the rise in 
female-headed households, which makes women's income critical to the 
well-being of our Nation's children.
  When you consider that receiving less pay means that women will also 
have less retirement security, the enormity of the problem is 
magnified. For example, less than 40% of women in the private sector 
have pensions, and those with pensions receive 50% less than what men 
receive. This is a critical problem given that women tend to outlive 
men, often by several years.
  So, although women have made some gains since President Kennedy 
signed the Equal Pay Act, clearly, much more needs to be done to erase 
the disparity in wages that exists between men and women in order to 
achieve true pay equity.
  Two bills have been introduced during this Congress that seek to 
remedy this wage disparity: H.R. 541, the Paycheck Fairness Act, 
introduced by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, and H.R. 1271, the Fair Pay 
Act, introduced by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton.
  The Paycheck Fairness Act strengthens current law by allowing women 
to collect damages for pay discrimination. It also ensures that 
employers who have taken steps to provide equal pay get the recognition 
they deserve. The Fair Pay Act prohibits wage discrimination based on 
sex, race, or national origin for work in equivalent jobs.
  I encourage my colleagues in Congress to support these important 
bills, and I urge the leadership of the House of Representatives to 
take action to address the issue of wage inequality in our country.

                          ____________________