[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 14659]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              PAY EQUALITY

  (Ms. SOLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to voice my strong disapproval 
of the Supreme Court's decision last week that effectively endorsed pay 
discrimination against women.
  Pay equity is a problem for women around the country, but especially 
for women of color, women who look like me. On average, African 
American women earn only 64 cents for every dollar and Latinas earn 
only 52 cents on the dollar compared to their white male counterparts.
  We need to protect the rights of workers, to remedy wage 
discrimination, and do more to close the pay gap between men and women. 
That is why I cosponsored the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would give 
teeth to the Equal Pay Act. The Paycheck Fairness Act would entitle the 
plaintiffs to backpay, compensatory, and punitive damages for 
``intentional'' wage discrimination.
  Without serious penalties for wage discrimination, violations will 
continue and working men and women and their families will suffer.
  We can and must fix the Equal Pay Act so workers all around can be 
fairly compensated for wage discrimination, and we must pass the 
Paycheck Fairness Act to close the wage gap.

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