Paycheck Fairness Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, you know, it has been more than half a century since the Equal Pay Act became law, and 12 years since President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, but women in the United States still, on average, earn only 82 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts, and the wage gap is far greater for women of color because, even though the Equal Pay Act and the Lilly Ledbetter Act were critical steps forward, there is clearly a lot more we have got to do.

Right now, an employer can brush aside reports of pay discrimination by saying things like, ``Well, he was a better negotiator'' or ``They work in different buildings.'' I mean, what does that have to do with it?

And too often, a woman's history of being paid less means she gets paid less in the future because her past salary can be used to determine her future salary, regardless of what her counterparts are making or her new responsibilities, and that has real consequences for women and their families.

Today, 4 out of 10 mothers with children under the age of 18 are their family's primary or sole breadwinners. As families rely more on women's wages to make ends meet, the gender pay gap has an even greater impact on children.

For example, over the course of just 1 year, the wage gap for Latino women averages almost $30,000 less compared to what a White man earns. We are talking about women losing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of their working lives, and that is money that could go to pay the bills, put food on the table, buy a house, start a business, save for retirement, get an education, and so much more.

Instead, women struggle with lifelong financial effects, including higher poverty rates as compared to men. Women are being shortchanged, plain and simple.

And this pandemic, by the way, has made things worse. Millions of women now, as we know, have left the labor force, and many have fallen behind just as caregiving responsibilities have disproportionately fallen on them.

According to one study, a woman who was earning about $47,000 a year before the pandemic, could lose nearly a quarter of a million dollars over her lifetime, assuming she is able to return to work this year.

The pandemic has set women--and in particular, women of color--back even further and made clear just how urgent it is for us to act because, you know what, if women don't recover from this crisis, our economy will not either, which is why we desperately need to close the wage gap.

We have got a responsibility to finally make sure women are paid fairly for their work so women can build financial security for themselves, for their families, for their communities, and so our economy--so much of which is driven by women, by the way--can fully recover from this crisis.

We have been fighting for the Paycheck Fairness Act for quite some time, but for those who need a reminder, here is what it would do simply, very straightforward: It will close the loopholes that allow pay discrimination to continue and protect workers from retaliation for discussing their pay; it will limit the use of prior wage history in the hiring process so pay discrimination cannot follow workers from job to job; and it will increase transparency and accountability so workers know whether they are being treated fairly and so they have the evidence to hold their employers accountable if they are not.

These are commonsense steps, and that is why this bill already passed the House with bipartisan support, and it is up to the Senate now to get this done because the reality is each and every Senator represents a State where half of the population earns less than they deserve, and that is ridiculous.

It is past time we end this injustice. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting to finally put money women have earned fair and square in their pockets where it belongs and take an essential step toward ensuring our economy can build back stronger and fairer from COVID-19.

There is absolutely nothing controversial about making sure every worker gets paid fairly for their work. Women have been waiting long enough. They need the Paycheck Fairness Act now more than ever. Let's get this done

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