[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8018-8019]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         PAYCHECK FAIRNESS ACT

  (Ms. FUDGE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. FUDGE. Mr. Speaker, today I rise on behalf of the women who are 
part of the fabric of our Nation's workforce.
  Nationally, women working full time are paid 77 cents for every 
dollar paid to men. These disparities are even worse for women of 
color. In Ohio, my home State, African American women are paid only 62 
cents, and Hispanic American women only 54 cents for every dollar paid 
to white males.
  The gender wage gap not only hurts women; unfair wages hurt entire 
families. In nearly two out of three American families, a woman is 
either the

[[Page 8019]]

bread winner or co-bread winner of their household. That means if women 
are not paid fairly, many families will not get fed.
  I cosponsored the Paycheck Fairness Act because I cannot and will not 
stand by as pay disparities persist. Gender discrimination is shameless 
and intolerable, and it must be stopped.

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