[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5842-5843]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                PAYCHECK FAIRNESS ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 345, 
S. 2199, the Paycheck Fairness Act.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the motion.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 345, S. 2199, a bill to 
     amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide more 
     effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the 
     payment of wages on the basis of sex, and for other purposes.


                                Schedule

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the 
Republican leader, the Senate will be in morning business until 12:30 
p.m., with the time equally divided and controlled. The Senate will 
recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. for our weekly caucus meetings, as 
we always do on Tuesdays.


               Measure Placed on the Calendar--H.R. 2575

  Mr. President, I understand that H.R. 2575 is at the desk and due for 
a second reading.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Booker). The clerk will read the bill by 
title for the second time.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 2575) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 
     1986 to repeal the 30-hour threshold for classification of a 
     full-time employee for purposes of the employer mandate in 
     the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and replace it 
     with 40 hours.

  Mr. REID. I object to any further proceedings at this time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection having been heard, the bill will be 
placed on the calendar.


                             Equal Pay Day

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, Ralph Waldo Emerson said this: ``America is 
another name for opportunity.''
  ``America is another name for opportunity.''
  Today this body, the Senate, should put Emerson's words to the test 
as we turn attention to the question of equal pay. For working American 
women, millions of whom are primary wage earners for their families, 
the Paycheck Fairness Act represents a unique opportunity, a chance to 
better provide for themselves and their families.
  It is unconscionable that American women currently take home an 
average of 77 cents for every dollar their male colleagues earn for 
doing the exact same work. Wage disparity is true regardless of whether 
a woman has a college degree, what job she holds or how many hours she 
spends at the office or factory or wherever it might be.
  Consider this just for a brief moment: For a woman to make the same 
salary as a man in 1 year for doing similar work in America, she must 
work not only that year but also an additional 3 months and 8 days. 
That is why today, April 8, the eighth day of the fourth month, is 
Equal Pay Day. It represents the extra work American women have to put 
forth to provide for their families. This is an injustice and should 
not be permitted to take place in America. While President Obama and 
Democrats have made significant progress toward helping women achieve 
equal pay, there is still much for us to do.
  Five years ago the very first law President Obama ever signed, the 
first act he performed in the Oval Office, was to sign the Lilly 
Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Remember, this is the legislation based on the 
good woman who found out--after having worked at this place for so many 
years, having additional responsibilities than all the men--they were 
all getting paid much more than she. She was the boss getting paid less 
than the people who worked for her. Why? Because she is a woman.
  The Lilly Ledbetter legislation is the biggest step Congress has 
taken on behalf of women to help them with their wages since the Equal 
Pay Act of 1963. The bill provides that the statute of limitations 
doesn't begin to run until someone finds out they are being cheated by 
their employer. The legislation helped address the pay gap, but women 
still suffer from discriminatory wage disparity.
  The Paycheck Fairness Act goes a step further by providing 
protections for women in the workplace. This legislation addresses 
unequal wages by empowering women to negotiate for equal pay and giving 
employers incentives to obey current law.
  I was happy to hear all the news accounts that I was able to be 
briefed on--along with those I listened to on public radio while I was 
doing my exercises--the detailed accounts about how women are not 
treated fairly. The legislation we are working on enables women to 
fight against wage discrimination while also preventing retaliation 
against employees who discuss salary information. Before Lilly 
Ledbetter and even today if you discuss what someone else makes you can 
be fired. That is the way it is in most places in America. It would 
finally give much needed assistance to victims of gender-based pay 
discrimination.
  Simply put, the Paycheck Fairness Act gives American women the fair 
shot they deserve. Unfortunately, efforts to address this issue have 
not been well received by Republicans. A similar bill addressing equal 
pay--despite a Republican filibuster--passed Congress and the Congress 
before that. Let's hope the third time is a charm for American women. 
Let's hope Republicans will finally do what is right.
  In any other circumstance Republicans would be up in arms with this 
type of economic discrimination--I would hope. They should be up in 
arms in terms of equal pay for women also. Why is it that so many 
Republicans are content to allow women working the same hours in the 
same job to make less money than their male coworkers? It is hard to 
comprehend, since women make up nearly half the U.S. labor force and 
more than half of the people enrolled in college. We are finding that 
the majority of students enrolled in professional schools, law schools, 
medical schools are women. Is it reasonable to assume that women should 
be treated unfairly? Is it reasonable to assume that Republicans in 
this body have wives, daughters or sisters who are or will be affected 
by this wage disparity and shouldn't we do something about it?

[[Page 5843]]

  I urge my colleagues to keep those loved ones--people such as my 
daughter and my many granddaughters--in their minds and in their 
thoughts when considering the question of equal pay for women. We will 
have the first vote the day after tomorrow. We will have this vote. To 
do otherwise would simply be unfair.


                   Recognition of the Minority Leader

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican leader is recognized.


                        NCAA Championship Kudos

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I wish to take a minute to congratulate 
the Kentucky Wildcats for an extraordinary season. My home State has 
held on to the NCAA national championship trophy for the past 2 years, 
with the Louisville Cardinals claiming it last year and the Kentucky 
Wildcats winning it in 2012. John Calipari's young Wildcats started 
five freshmen who played like seasoned veterans and made an incredible 
run that captivated both our State and the Nation.
  While the Commonwealth will now relinquish the trophy to Connecticut, 
I only ask that my colleagues, Senator Murphy and Senator Blumenthal, 
see to it that the trophy remains in pristine condition--pristine 
condition--as my State will undoubtedly reclaim it next year.


                         Job Creation Solutions

  Mr. President, America's middle class is struggling. They need 
serious job creation solutions, but that is not what they have been 
getting from the President. He seems more intent on staging campaign-
style rallies to bemoan an economy he has been presiding over for the 
last 5\1/2\ years, not to offer solutions but more to do what he does 
best, which is to shift the blame to others.
  Meanwhile, yesterday in the Senate Republicans were hoping the 
majority leader would finally work with us to pass a job creation 
package that contains ideas from many of our Members--legislation with 
provisions several key Democrats support as well--but that is not what 
the majority leader chose to do. Instead of focusing on jobs, he 
launched into another confusing attack on the left's latest bizarre 
obsession.
  Think about that. The percentage of Americans in the workforce is 
almost at a four-decade low, and Democrats chose to ignore serious job 
creation ideas so they could blow a few kisses to their powerful pals 
on the left.
  At a time when so many Americans are desperate--desperate for a good 
job, at a time of fewer opportunities, people are hurting, college 
graduates cannot find a job, working families cannot afford to pay 
their bills--what Americans need right now are real job creation 
solutions, not some tone-deaf, blame-deflection rally or some daily 
bout of shadow boxing on the Senate floor.
  Some say this is all embarrassing, but there is one positive side to 
the Washington Democrats' never-ending political road show. It throws 
the divide between the two parties into stark relief. On the one side 
we have a Washington Democratic Party that simply has run out of ideas. 
When it comes to fixing the economy, they have tried just about 
everything their ideology will allow: taxing, regulating, spending, 
stimulating, you name it, and none of it has worked. So at this point 
they have basically dropped any pretense of doing anything serious on 
the economy. That is why we heard them essentially admit that their 
governing agenda is actually a political document drafted by campaign 
staff, that the proposals it contains are basically just show votes 
designed specifically not to pass. So that is one side of American 
politics: a party that is out of ideas, campaign-obsessed, and utterly 
beholden to the far left.
  On the other side we have a Republican Party that is committed to 
getting our economy working for the middle class. We believe in the 
power of ideas, and we know that with the right forward-looking 
policies we can and will break through the stagnation of the Obama 
economy. The Republicans' focus is on offering more opportunity to the 
middle class and those who aspire to it. Our focus is on offering 
innovative ways to generate the kind of stable, well-paying jobs that 
Americans actually want. We also know we can get more done as a country 
if both parties can work together to see these policies through and 
leave behind the sterile campaign theatrics that have been on daily 
display in the Senate under the Democratic majority.
  I am asking our Democratic colleagues to consider dropping all the 
show votes, the blame deflecting, and the perpetual campaigning. What I 
am asking is for them to consider shifting from policies that don't 
work--in other words, what they have been trying for the last 5\1/2\ 
years--to ones that will. Every Senator was sent here to get things 
done for our constituents, and we can. We can pass a positive jobs 
agenda for the American people. All we need is for Washington Democrats 
to work with us for a change.
  I have one other item. This morning IRS Commissioner Koskinen will 
testify before the Finance Committee. I am sure Members will be 
reminding him of this, and I know several sent a letter yesterday too. 
But I would like to underline the point. Commissioner Koskinen led 
Congress to believe that his agency will not be imposing anti-free 
speech rules before this November's election. It is a point he 
basically reiterated again just the other day, so Congress plans to 
hold him to what he has been leading the American people to believe.
  Honestly, what he really needs to do is to stop the IRS from stepping 
on the First Amendment all together. He needs to stop this proposed 
regulation just as the Secretary of the Treasury told us he could do if 
he wanted. In fact, the House of Representatives recently voted to halt 
it too.
  Remember, tens of thousands of Americans made their opinions known 
directly to the IRS about this regulation. It was an unprecedented 
response and nearly all of the comments were opposed. The comments came 
from straight across the political spectrum.
  Commissioner Koskinen needs to live up to what we told the Senate 
when we confirmed him when he led us to believe he would be an 
independent voice for reform. As I said before, Commissioner Koskinen 
has a choice. He can be a hero--like the IRS commissioner who stood up 
to President Nixon--or he can be another pawn of this administration. 
Both Congress and the American people expect him to make the right 
decision.

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