    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [June 10, 1998]
    [Pages 931-932]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 931]]

    Remarks on Proposed Equal Pay Legislation
    June 10, 1998

        Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. We gather here to
    recognize and reaffirm the historic commitment of this Nation to equal
    opportunity.

    Murder in Jasper, Texas

        Before I get into my remarks, I hope you will understand if I don't
    let the moment pass without making a brief comment about the shocking
    and outrageous murder of James Byrd, Jr., in
    Jasper, Texas. Federal law enforcement officials are on the ground
    there, assisting local law enforcement officials. Because it's an
    ongoing investigation, I can't comment on the facts of the case, but I
    can tell you this: We are determined that the investigation will be
    thorough, will be fair, and that the guilty will be brought to justice.
        I ask for your thoughts and your prayers to be with the family of
    Mr. Byrd today and with the people of that community, because in the
    face of this tragedy, they must join together across racial lines to
    demonstrate that an act of evil like this is not what this country is
    all about. I think we've all been touched by it. I can only imagine that
    virtually everyone who lives there is in agony at this moment. But they
    must reaffirm, and so must we, that we will not tolerate this.

    Proposed Equal Pay Legislation

        Now, let me just say, I've had a wonderful time here today, and
    everything that needs to be said has been said. [Laughter] I thank
    Hillary and Al and Tipper. We care a lot about
    these issues. We spent hours in 1992--hours--talking about how we had to
    change the framework of American life so that people could succeed at
    work and at home; how we had to make it possible for everyone who was
    able-bodied to work, but how the most important work of any society was
    taking good care of our children. And we went through this whole long
    litany of things, of which unequal pay is clearly a big one, that are
    barriers to building strong families, strong communities, and the
    strongest possible economy.
        I thank Senator Kennedy, Senator
    Boxer, and Congresswoman DeLauro and Delegate Norton and
    all the Members of the House who are here, and my special friend Dorothy
    Height for a lifetime of commitment to all
    this.
        I'm here because, like Rosa DeLauro, I'm the son of a working
    mother. I had a working grandmother; I have a hard-working wife; and we
    have done everything we could to make sure that our daughter never faced
    any barriers to her dreams. That's what I want for every American young
    person.
        Although, I must say--you remember when Senator Kennedy said that he
    talked about how much we'd closed the inequality gap in the last 3 or 4
    years and if that pace of progress had been kept for the last 35 years,
    then women would be earning $1.71 for every dollar of men. And that's
    about the ratio of my earnings and Hillary's before I became President.
    [Laughter] And I liked it quite well. [Laughter] First thing you know,
    the people that don't agree with us on anything will be accusing me of
    some strategy to make men lazy. [Laughter]
        We have indeed come a long way since Dorothy Height and Congresswoman Edna Kelly, Evvy, and others were here 35 years ago. President Kennedy
    said that the Equal Pay Act was basic to democracy, giving women the
    same rights in the workplace they have enjoyed at the polling place.
    You've already heard that we have moved in that 35 years from a period
    when, on average, women earned 58 cents for every dollar men earned, to
    a report released by the Council of Economic Advisers--and Dr.
    Yellen is here--saying that women now earn
    more than 75 cents on the dollar. But that's just three-quarters of the
    way home.
        And to people who think it isn't very much, I ask you: If you had
    the choice, would you rather have 100 cents on the dollar or 75? You
    would think it was quite a lot after you had taken a few of those 75-
    cent dollars.
        Here's something that's interesting that no one else has pointed
    out. The CEA study shows that the gender gap is persistent, though
    narrowing, despite women's gains in education and experience, and even
    accounting for the difficulties of balancing family and work so that
    there are more women in part-time jobs. When you

    [[Page 932]]

    take account of every conceivable variable explainable by something
    other than plain old discrimination in equal pay for equal work, there
    is still this 25 percent gap.
        And the Labor Department today--and I thank Deputy Secretary
    Higgins for being here--is
    releasing a report which shows a history of women's employment. It shows
    what the obstacles were, which ones have faded away, which ones still
    remain. To those of you who have been involved in this for a long time,
    I urge you to look at the Council of Economic Advisers report and the
    Labor Department report, and I think you will be persuaded that there is
    no explanation for the gap that is complete without acknowledging the
    continued existence of discrimination.
        Now, this should not be a partisan political issue. In a funny way,
    it shouldn't even be a gender issue. More fundamentally, it is a civil
    rights issue; more fundamentally than that, it is a family issue, where
    I can testify that young boys eat at the table where the bread is earned
    by their mothers as well. And it is a matter of American principle. It's
    a question of what kind of America we want our children and our
    grandchildren to live in, in the 21st century.
        That's why I strongly support the Equal Pay Act that Senator
    Daschle and Congresswoman DeLauro have introduced. Wage discrimination based on gender
    is just as wrong as wage discrimination based on race or any other
    artificial category.
        This legislation will help us to close the last part of the gap; it
    will strengthen enforcement of the Equal Pay Act; it will toughen
    penalties for violations; and it will boost compensation for working
    women. It is tough; it is fair. Congress should pass it. And I join
    Congresswoman DeLauro in asking that it be
    scheduled for a vote. Let's give everybody in Congress the chance to
    vote on something good and the chance to do something good for the
    people back home.
        We're coming up on the first anniversary of the President's
    Initiative on Race, so I've been thinking a lot about what it means to
    have a society with equal opportunity, where people are bound together
    celebrating their differences, but understanding there are things we
    have in common that are more fundamental.
        There have been a lot of people who have written some interesting
    books and some that I didn't quite agree with over the last several
    years, talking about the inherent differences between men and women--
    Venus, Mars, Uranus, Pluto, whatever--[laughter]--and others on a more--
    with a more political overtone. But I believe that whatever your views
    on that are, surely all of us believe that the citizenship we share is
    unitary and that the guarantees of the Constitution are sweeping enough
    to embrace us all without regard to our gender. Therefore, it is
    ludicrous to say that 75 percent equality is enough.
        You wouldn't tolerate getting to vote in three out of every four
    elections. [Laughter] You wouldn't like it if someone said you could
    only pick up three out of every four paychecks. But that is, in effect,
    what we have said to the women of America. Show up every month, show up
    every day--show up every day--but only three out of four paydays. It's
    not good enough.
        The 21st century, as I have been pounding the podium about for the
    last 5\1/2\ years, will be the time of greatest opportunity in all human
    history, especially for our country. We cannot let it be known also for
    the opportunities that were lost and the people who were left behind.
    With your help, we will prevail.
        Thank you, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:29 p.m. in Room 450 of the Old Executive
    Office Building. In his remarks, he referred to Dorothy Height, chair
    and president emerita, National Council of Negro Women; and Evelyn
    DuBrow, special assistant to the president, Union of Needletrades and
    Industrial Textile Employees.