Paycheck Fairness Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1338, the Paycheck Fairness Act. I am an original cosponsor of this bill because I believe it is time that we end gender discrimination in the workplace.

The Paycheck Fairness Act addresses one of the most evident and detrimental aspects of gender discrimination: Wage disparity. As we know from the U.S. Census Bureau, women across the country earn, on average, only 77 cents for every dollar a man receives for the same work. That 23-cent difference can add up to between $400,000 and $2 million over a working lifetime. In Illinois, where the average working woman earns 75 cents for every dollar earned by a man, the wage gap and the cost to women are even larger.

In today's economy, wage discrimination hits women particularly hard, whether they are the heads of households or the second or even third wage earner in a family. With higher food, energy, health care, transportation and housing costs, women are struggling to stretch every dollar in order to meet their family's needs. Wage discrimination unfairly shrinks those dollars, especially for women of color and self-employed women who suffer from a higher-than-average wage gap. It deprives women of dollars that they have earned but, because of the paycheck gap, do not get.

While there are many economic arguments for H.R. 1338, there are other considerations as well. I urge my colleagues to consider the views of the American Psychological Association, which argues that wage discrepancies create economic disadvantages that ``affect the psychological and physical health of women and their families.'' As the APA says, ``The link between depression and low-income women can be attributed to increased stress caused by living in poverty, as well as minimal social support. Additionally, low-income pregnant women receive less prenatal care, and are more likely to deliver low-birth weight babies.''

We should pass H.R. 1338 to ensure that women are fairly paid for their work, not economically disadvantaged because of their gender. We should pass H.R. 1338 because it will help families deal with the current economic crisis. We should pass H.R. 1338 because it will have positive health impacts for women and families. It is the right thing to do, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. STARK. Mr. Chairman, there is no excuse for the wage gap that still exists between men and women in today's workforce. Equalizing wages will provide women with equal pay for equal work and improve the standard of living for millions of American families. That is why I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1338, the Paycheck Fairness Act.

The need for the reform of the Equal Pay Act (EPA) is obvious. More than four decades after Congress enacted it, hard-working women still earn only 77 cents for every dollar made by men. This is certainly an improvement over the 58 cents women earned when the EPA was passed in 1963, but it is hardly enough. And it still will not be enough when the day comes that women earn 99 cents for every dollar that a man earns. ``Equal'' is not a word that allows room for negotiation, and nothing short of women being paid the same wages as men should be acceptable.

We are here today to vote for the Paycheck Fairness Act for the fourth time since it was first introduced in 2005. That is three times too many. We took jobs as Representatives of the House with the promise to represent our constituents to the best of our ability. I don't see how it is possible to do that when we neglect to ensure that something as basic and fundamentally important as fair pay is granted to the working women of our districts.

The Paycheck Fairness Act contains the tools necessary to achieve EPA's goal. It will increase penalties for employers who pay different wages to men and women for equal work, require employers to prove that payment disparities among men and women are job related and consistent with business necessity, and protect employees from retaliation after sharing salary information.

In a country that prides itself on equality for all, it is unconscionable that women who do the same work as men receive less pay. I urge my colleagues to bring the ``fairness'' back into the workplace by supporting the Paycheck Fairness Act.

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