[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 716]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         PAYCHECK FAIRNESS ACT

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, today women make up nearly half of the 
American workforce. More women graduate from college today than do men, 
more women were sworn in to the 113th Congress than any Congress before 
that, and there are more women in the Democratic caucus than ever 
before--and that is an understatement. Millions of women in the United 
States are the primary wage earners for their families, and women are 
now free to fight for this county on the front lines of battle. Yet, 
for millions of American women, no amount of valor, talent, or 
dedication will bring pay equality with their male peers. Women still 
bring home 77 cents for every $1 their male colleagues earn for doing 
exactly the same work.
  I have five children. My oldest child is a girl, my daughter Lana. I 
mean, it is hard to comprehend that she is worth less than one of my 
boys who does the same work. It is unfair. And that is true regardless 
of whether a woman has a college degree, regardless of what job she 
holds, and regardless of how many hours she spends at the office or 
factory each week. They get paid 77 cents on average for every $1 a man 
makes.
  Four years ago President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay 
Act. I have gotten to know this dynamic, courageous woman, Lilly 
Ledbetter. She has campaigned around the country for people she likes 
and believe in her. I am so impressed with her and what she has been 
able to accomplish. This one woman has accomplished a great deal.
  The Lilly Ledbetter legislation--the first bill President Obama 
signed as President of the United States--was the single greatest 
legislative step to ensure women have every chance to be full, equal 
participants in the workplace since the Equal Pay Act of 1963 was 
passed. But while this landmark legislation built on the legacy of the 
Equal Pay Act and narrowed the pay gap, it has not closed the pay gap, 
as I have just indicated. So the senior Senator from Maryland, Barbara 
Mikulski, introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act last Congress. The 
Paycheck Fairness Act is a logical extension of protections under the 
Equal Pay Act and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. It would help close 
the wage disparity by empowering women to negotiate for equal pay and 
creating strong incentives for employers to obey the laws already in 
place. It would give workers stronger tools to combat wage 
discrimination and bar retaliation against workers for discussing 
salary information. And it would help secure adequate compensation for 
victims of gender-based pay discrimination. It is simply not fair that 
any woman working the same hours in the same job should make less money 
than her male coworker.
  Unfortunately, this commonsense legislation was blocked by a 
Republican filibuster last Congress. But Senator Mikulski, who has done 
so much to advance the pay equity issue, reintroduced the measure last 
week, for which I am grateful.
  As we mark the fourth anniversary of the signing of the Lilly 
Ledbetter Act, I applaud Senator Mikulski and the women of the 
Democratic caucus for their dedication to American women and families--
and to the principle of equality.
  Would the Chair announce the business of the day.
  Oh, I am sorry, I did not see the Republican leader here, so my 
apology, Mr. President.

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