[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4874]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             EQUAL PAY DAY

  (Mr. HIGGINS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, today, on Equal Pay Day, we call attention 
to the fact that American women who work full time are paid only 78 
percent of what men earn. For women of color, the discrepancy is worse.
  This pay gap will cost a 25-year-old woman $34,000 over the next 5 
years. Over her career, she will lose $431,000 relative to men. Women 
make up nearly half of the American workforce. Underpaying half of our 
workers hurts women, hurts families, and hurts the economy. In New 
York, we have the smallest pay gap among the States, but women in New 
York still earn only 86 cents for every dollar a man is paid. We can do 
much better.
  When President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, which requires equal 
pay for equal work, women's pay was 59 percent of men's. We have made 
progress, but time has exposed loopholes that hinder the law.
  I call on the House to pass Congresswoman DeLauro's Paycheck Fairness 
Act, which would close these loopholes and bring us closer to pay 
equity. Let's act now to make equal pay for equal work a reality.

                          ____________________