[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 8246]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       EQUAL PAY ACT ANNIVERSARY

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, I come to the floor today to recognize 
an important anniversary. Fifty years ago Congress passed the Equal Pay 
Act, a law that was to ensure pay equity for women in the workplace. 
This landmark legislation was signed into law by President Kennedy on 
June 10, 1963, and prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in the 
payment of wages by employers. The goals of the legislation were 
groundbreaking. It was the first time Congress acted on this issue, 
addressing a real and growing problem as more women entered the 
workforce. Congress stepped up to the plate and took the first attempt 
at fixing outright discrimination that was bound to have an impact on 
working families across America.
  Today we find ourselves in a similar place, in need of a solution 
because the Equal Pay Act is in need of fixing. It recently made big 
headlines when a Pew research study was released saying that women are 
the primary earner in 4 of 10 households today, many of these women 
being the sole earners. But what was missed in this discussion is the 
impact that the pay gap is continuing to have on these households who 
are dependent on the salaries of women.
  The pay gap results in $4,000 less per year for working families and 
$434,000 less over a lifetime. Think of what these families could 
accomplish if they got simply what they were owed. With rising costs 
for childcare, medical care, and filling up the family car, these 
families are held down by unfair and unjust pay policies.
  While these are the day to day impacts, there are also real 
consequences to the pay gap over a lifetime. The pay gap affects your 
income, affects your pension, and affects your Social Security. Women's 
Social Security benefits are 71 percent of men's benefits. The average 
income from private pension based on women's earnings was only 48 
percent of men's earnings. The consequences of our inaction on pay 
equity are following women out of the workplace, further impacting 
their lives down the line. For years I have fought a solution to this.
  Under the Paycheck Fairness Act, no longer will employers be able to 
retaliate against workers for sharing information about wages. Right 
now, if you ask someone what they get paid you can get fired. For 
years, Lilly Ledbetter was humiliated and harassed because she tried to 
find out what she was making.
  No longer will women be able to seek only back pay when they are 
discriminated against. Under this pay they can seek punitive damages. 
No longer will employers be able to use almost any reason to justify 
paying a woman less than a man. Excuses such as ``oh, they do harder 
jobs,'' ``oh, they do dangerous jobs,'' or ``oh, they have a better 
education than you'' will no longer be tolerated. Women do hard and 
dangerous jobs. Ask anyone who runs a daycare center or is a 
firefighter. No longer will women be on their own in fighting for equal 
pay for equal work or education and training.
  In this country, they say work hard, play by the rules, and you will 
get ahead. We work hard every day, but we find the rules are different 
for women and men. In 1963 women made 59 cents for every dollar made by 
men. Almost 49 years later we have made an 18-cent gain. Women now make 
77 cents for every dollar earned by men. Forty-nine years and 18 cents. 
That is not rewarding hard work, and it is certainly not playing by the 
rules.
  In March, during the Budget debate, the Senate agreed with us and 
unanimously voted that it was time to do something about the pay gap. 
Well, now it is time to step up to the plate on this 50th anniversary. 
Let's end pay inequity and end the policies that keep women uneducated 
and unequipped to fight for their fair share. It is not just for our 
pocketbooks. It is about the family checkbooks and getting it right in 
the law books. And it is also about the generations of women to come. 
Let's not make it another 50 years without giving the Equal Pay Act the 
tools it needs to finally fulfill its promise.

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