    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 128, 113th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    PROCLAMATION 9101--APR. 7, 2014

    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

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    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.
    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.
    BARACK OBAMA