[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12966-12967]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      BLACK WOMEN'S EQUAL PAY DAY

  Mr. REID. Madam President, in the western part of the United States, 
it is now 8:05 in the morning. I am sure as one of these young girls is 
rushing to go out to school--let's assume she is an African-American 
girl--she is telling her mother, her dad or her teacher what she wants 
to be when she grows up. Maybe she wants to be a veterinarian, a 
teacher, a nurse, maybe even President of the United States or maybe 
run some company.
  The little girl is going to be shocked if her parents said: You can 
do it--any of those jobs--but remember that you will have to work twice 
as hard--at least twice as hard--to earn the same amount of money that 
your male colleagues do or your brother does or Billy, the neighbor, 
does. How would that little girl respond? She would probably exclaim: 
That is not fair. She would be right. It isn't fair. It is an 
injustice.
  Earlier this spring--April 14 to be exact--we recognized Equal Pay 
Day, marking how far into this year the average woman has to work to 
earn what a man, for the exact same job, earned last year. This pay 
disparity between men and women doing the same work is known as the 
wage gap. On average, an American woman makes 77 cents for every dollar 
that their male colleague makes for doing the exact same work. As bad 
as that is, the wage gap is even much worse if you are a woman of 
color.
  Today is Black Women's Equal Pay Day, a day that symbolizes how far 
into 2015 African-American women must work to earn what their male 
counterparts earned in 2014. What this means is she worked all of last 
year and now up until this day to basically earn the same that her male 
counterpart did.
  Let's think about that for just a second. A woman must work a full 
year plus an additional 6 months and 28 days just to make what her male 
coworkers made in 1 year. That is 208 days more than a man must work 
for the exact same salary.
  The average African-American woman working full time year-round will 
make 64 cents for every dollar that her White male counterpart makes. 
It is unconscionable that in the 21st century we have not resolved this 
income disparity.
  For millions of African-American women struggling to make ends meet 
to put food on the table, the wage gap puts the American dream out of 
reach. To give these women a fair shot--an equal shot--at prosperity, 
Congress must take action.
  We have to ensure that all women, African American and otherwise, are 
empowered to ensure that they are receiving equal pay for equal work. 
But that is not all. We should raise the minimum wage.
  I could do a quiz in this room, and I think everyone would miss it by 
quite a long mark, of how many Black women are earning minimum wage, 
what percentage of Black women are earning minimum wage in this 
country. Of 100 percent of people earning the minimum wage, what 
percentage is Black women? Almost 25 percent. Black women are almost 25 
percent of everyone drawing the minimum wage. To be exact, it is a 
little over 23 percent.
  An increase in the Federal minimum wage would mean more money for 
their families. It would be maybe to buy groceries or for an extra pair 
of shoes for their children--or a pair of shoes for their children--or 
maybe to help with

[[Page 12967]]

their education in some way, and importantly, for more time to spend at 
home.
  No woman should make less money than a man doing the same exact work. 
African-American women deserve better. So do my daughters and my 
granddaughters. That is why I remain committed to ensuring that 
American women receive equal pay for equal work.
  I encourage all Republicans, especially the leader, to take up 
Senator Murray's Paycheck Fairness Act, which would help close the wage 
disparity for African-American women.
  That may be a tall order to expect from today's Senate Republicans. 
After all, five times in 5 years, Republicans have blocked equal pay 
for women. How? By filibustering. Five times in 5 years Republicans 
have told their very own sisters, daughters, and wives that they are 
not interested in fixing this income disparity. It is unfair. I can't 
understand it.
  Who here can explain the concept of pay inequality to their daughter 
or granddaughter without shuddering? How do you tell a little girl--a 
little girl with big dreams--that in America today her life's work will 
not be compensated like a man's. It is not right. It is not fair.
  Today, as we recognize Black Women's Equal Pay Day, I hope my 
Republican colleagues will finally understand that it is unfair to 
continue the way we are, and we should finally come to our senses. I 
hope that the Republican leader will make the necessary moves to allow 
us to address this injustice that hurts millions of American families. 
Twenty-three percent of people drawing the minimum wage are African-
American women. All women deserve equal pay for equal work.
  Would the Chair be good enough to tell the Senate what the business 
of the day is.

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