[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4825]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             EQUAL PAY DAY

  (Ms. DUCKWORTH asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DUCKWORTH. Mr. Speaker, America's daughters deserve better. 
Today, in the United States, women make only 77 cents for every dollar 
their male peers earn. In my home State of Illinois, women earn nearly 
$12,000 a year less than their male counterparts.
  During my service in the Army, compared to my male counterparts, I 
received equal pay for equal work. This policy of fairness has helped 
make our military the strongest, fiercest in the world.
  Pay discrimination doesn't just hurt women; it hurts working families 
in towns like Itasca and Elgin, Illinois. I know that my neighbors in 
the Eighth Congressional District believe that their daughters deserve 
better than this.
  Pay equality for women is not only the right thing to do, but it will 
make our economy stronger; it will make our families stronger; it will 
make America stronger.
  So, on Equal Pay Day, let us recommit ourselves to doing everything 
in our power to end pay inequality for our country. Congress needs to 
act now and pass the Paycheck Fairness Act so that women have the 
opportunity to stand up to this discrimination.

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