[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7671]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                             EQUAL PAY DAY

  (Mrs. MORELLA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize today, May 11, as 
Equal Pay Day. Gender equity is an ongoing struggle that seeps into 
many facets of all of our lives. We have made a lot of progress and I 
hope that we will eventually see the end of Equal Pay Day, because the 
goal will have been achieved. Until then, we know that women do not 
receive a 27 percent discount on milk when they buy groceries, and they 
do not pay 27 percent less than men for rent or day care.
  The gap between women's and men's wages has narrowed since 1963, but 
women still bring home only about 73 cents for every man's dollar. And 
equally disheartening is that the gender-based pay gap with African-
American women earning 63 cents and Latino women earning 53 cents on 
each dollar a man earns.
  Achieving equality takes not only awareness of a problem, but a 
coalition of those dedicated to solving the problem of eliminating the 
wage gap. The National Committee on Pay Equity, Business and 
Professional Women, the labor unions and the EEOC, have all helped lead 
the fight for pay equity. I thank them for representing so many women 
in the struggles, challenges and victories that they have faced, and I 
urge this body to do all on our behalf to make sure that we have the 
legislation in order so that every day is Equal Pay Day.

                          ____________________