[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 5941-5942]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    IN RECOGNITION OF EQUAL PAY DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 8, 2014

  Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, today marks a holiday 
that I hope to see stricken from the calendar. Today is Equal Pay Day, 
a day which marks the number of days into 2014 that it takes for the 
average woman to make as much as her male counterpart did in 2013. It 
is truly staggering that a woman does not earn the same annual amount 
as her male counterpart until four months into the following year. The 
fact that women earn only 77 percent of what men are paid has a 
staggering effect on society as a whole, our economy and our future.
  Closing the wage gap would likely have an immensely positive effect 
on our economy. The additional $400,000 that each woman would earn in 
her lifetime if paid the same as her male counterpart would be just the 
economic boost that our country needs as we recover from the recession. 
Economists estimate that closing the wage gap would have twice the 
stimulative effect as President Obama's $800 billion Stimulus Bill. We 
simply cannot afford Congressional inaction on this issue.
  Not only does wage inequality diminish a woman's spending power, it 
also has a devastating effect on women's retirement savings. Diminished 
earnings means that women are less equipped to contribute to retirement 
savings, but it also means that their Social Security and pensions, 
both of which are based on income, are diminished. The resulting effect 
is that retired women are more likely than retired men to live in 
poverty. The fact that we can let our mothers and grandmothers live in 
poverty during the final years of their lives is truly a travesty.
  The wage gap is even more dramatic for women of color: African 
American women on average earn only 64 cents for every dollar earned by 
white, non-Hispanic men. Latinas fare even worse, earning only 55 cents 
on the dollar. According to the National Partnership for Women and 
Families, that adds up to an average of $18,817 and $23,298, 
respectively,

[[Page 5942]]

in annual lost wages. Put another way, the lost wages are the 
equivalent to 118 weeks' worth of food and 4,549 gallons of gasoline 
for African American women and 154 weeks' worth of food and 5,743 
gallons of gasoline for Latina women. This inequity is intolerable.
  The Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963 to address the issue of wage 
inequality, but progress has been slow. Since the Act's passage, the 
wage gap has closed by just 18 cents. According to the Institute for 
Women's Policy Research, at the current pace, the wage gap will not be 
closed until 2058. This is simply unacceptable. Congress cannot sit by 
idly while women's economic security, including their retirement 
savings, are threatened by gender inequity.
  As the Senate prepares yet again to vote on the Paycheck Fairness 
Act, it is my hope that my colleagues in the Senate will recall the 
devastating effects that wage inequity has on women, particularly 
minority and elderly women, and vote in favor of S. 2199.
  Paycheck inequity also means women are more economically vulnerable 
during breaks in employment. Women, earning less than their male 
counterparts, have less money to place into savings as a safeguard to 
protect themselves and their families from unexpected unemployment.
  The House can act immediately to provide women and their families 
with economic safeguards by passing the Senate's 5-month extension of 
long-term jobless benefits. Not only do tens of thousands of women rely 
on long-term unemployment insurance to satisfy their most basic needs, 
they also use these benefits to provide for the needs of their 
children. Many women, despite earning significantly less than their 
male counterparts, are the primary providers for their families. 
Congress should reward women for their hard work and extend long-term 
jobless benefits, a critical safety net for women and their families.

                          ____________________