[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6677]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         PAYCHECK FAIRNESS ACT

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of every working 
woman who faces pay discrimination in the workplace. Last year the 
Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to drastically limit women's access to seek 
justice for pay discrimination based on gender, requiring workers to 
file a pay discriminate claim within a 6-month period only, regardless 
of how long the pay inequity goes on.
  The House has passed legislation to right this wrong, and the other 
body will follow this week. While a weakening economy weighs heavily on 
women and families across America, and when women are still only 
earning 77 percent of what men earn, this is not the time to curtail 
women's access to fair pay.
  That is why this Congress must pass into law the Paycheck Fairness 
Act. With the support of more than 227 cosponsors, my bill would help 
women confront discrimination in the workplace, give teeth to the Equal 
Pay Act by prohibiting employers from retaliating against employees who 
share salary information with their coworkers, allow women to sue for 
punitive damages and the recovery of back pay and create a new grant 
program to help strength the negotiation skills of girls and women.
  I call on the House to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act because every 
woman deserves equal pay for equal work.

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