[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8016]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         PAYCHECK FAIRNESS ACT

  (Mr. YARMUTH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Speaker, when women succeed, our economy grows, our 
communities prosper, and our Nation thrives. And yet, 50 years after 
President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law, some in Congress 
seem content to let the pay gap between men and women continue.
  Back in 1963, women earned 59 cents on average for every dollar a man 
took home. President Kennedy called that ``unconscionable.'' Meanwhile, 
about 1 in 10 mothers were their family's primary breadwinners. Five 
decades later, the number of female breadwinners has quadrupled. And 
yet women take home only 77 cents for every dollar a man earns for the 
same job. In 50 years, we've made 18 cents of progress.
  Congress hasn't updated the Equal Pay Act since President Kennedy 
signed it into law. The Paycheck Fairness Act would strengthen that 
law, adapt it to a much different American workplace than what we had 
in the sixties, and put us back on a pathway to pay equity in the 
workforce.
  Equal pay isn't just a women's issue--it's a family issue, it's an 
economic issue, it's a community issue, and it's also an issue that 
Congress has ignored.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Paycheck Fairness 
Act and help guarantee equal pay for equal work.

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