Paycheck Fairness

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it is nearing 2 years since we passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act protecting the principle of equal pay for equal work by allowing workers to pursue pay discrimination cases beyond the arbitrary window established by the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, while the Lilly Ledbetter Act was an important step in eliminating pay discrimination, a sizable pay gap remains between working men and women.

The numbers are astounding. Nearly 50 years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act, a recent GAO report shows that managers who are women make 81 cents to every dollar of their male counterparts. According to the U.S. Census Bureau report, the gap grows even larger--77 cents to every dollar--when looking at the entire working population.

In Illinois, for a median income household, that is a difference of $11,000 each year. This is a significant difference in compensation. Imagine, for a family where the woman is the primary or only wage-earner how much difference $11,000 a year could make.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would help narrow this pay gap by amending the Equal Pay Act to reduce discrimination in the workplace. It would bar retaliation against workers for disclosing wages, so that workers can identify pay discrimination when it happens.

The bill would clarify what constitutes valid justification for pay differentials so that employers know what factors are lawful considerations. The law would clarify that gender difference alone is not adequate pay differential must be based on legitimate, job-related requirements. It would create incentives for good behavior by providing technical assistance and employer recognition awards.

Finally, the legislation would amend the Equal Pay Act to ensure that women facing discrimination have access to the same wage discrimination remedies as are available for racial or ethnic wage discrimination.

These commonsense solutions can help narrow the wage gap. Women cannot afford, quite literally, to wait for this legislation any longer. We cannot ignore that the gender wage gap is unacceptably large and shrinking much too slowly. We owe working women of America and their families--more. I look forward to casting my vote to proceed to the Paycheck Fairness Act and urge my colleague to join me.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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