[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 69 (Thursday, April 10, 2014)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 20089-20090]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-08289]



[[Page 20087]]

Vol. 79

Thursday,

No. 69

April 10, 2014

Part IV





The President





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Proclamation 9101--National Equal Pay Day, 2014
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  Federal Register / Vol. 79 , No. 69 / Thursday, April 10, 2014 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 20089]]

                Proclamation 9101 of April 7, 2014

                
National Equal Pay Day, 2014

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Throughout our Nation's history, brave women have torn 
                down barriers so their daughters might one day enjoy 
                the same rights, same chances, and same freedoms as 
                their sons. Despite tremendous progress, too many women 
                are entering the workforce to find their mothers' and 
                grandmothers' victories undermined by the unrealized 
                promise of equal pay for equal work. On National Equal 
                Pay Day, we mark how far into the new year women would 
                have to work to earn the same as men did in the 
                previous year, and we recommit to making equal pay a 
                reality.

                Women make up nearly half of our Nation's workforce and 
                are primary breadwinners in 4 in 10 American households 
                with children under age 18. Yet from boardrooms to 
                classrooms to factory floors, their talent and hard 
                work are not reflected on the payroll. Today, women 
                still make only 77 cents to every man's dollar, and the 
                pay gap is even wider for women of color. Over her 
                lifetime, the average American woman can expect to lose 
                hundreds of thousands of dollars to the earnings gap, a 
                significant blow to both women and their families. In 
                an increasingly competitive global marketplace, we must 
                use all of America's talent to its fullest potential--
                because when women succeed, America succeeds.

                More than half a century after President John F. 
                Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, my Administration 
                remains devoted to improving our equal pay laws and 
                closing the pay gap between women and men. From signing 
                the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to establishing the 
                Equal Pay Task Force, I have strengthened pay 
                discrimination protections and cracked down on 
                violations of equal pay laws. And I will continue to 
                push the Congress to step up and pass the Paycheck 
                Fairness Act, because this fight will not be over until 
                our sisters, our mothers, and our daughters can earn a 
                living equal to their efforts.

                The time has passed for us to recognize that what 
                determines success should not be our gender, but rather 
                our talent, our drive, and the strength of our 
                contributions. So, today, let us breathe new life into 
                our founding ideals. Let us march toward a day when, in 
                the land of liberty and opportunity, there are no 
                limits on our daughters' dreams and no glass ceilings 
                on the value of their work.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim April 8, 2014, as 
                National Equal Pay Day. I call upon all Americans to 
                recognize the full value of women's skills and their 
                significant contributions to the labor force, 
                acknowledge the injustice of wage inequality, and join 
                efforts to achieve equal pay.

[[Page 20090]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
                eighth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2014-08289
Filed 4-9-14; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F4