Heidi Alexander: “the distinguished Senator from Washington and I often agree on issues, and for the most part we agree on this. We agree…”

“the distinguished Senator from Washington and I often agree on issues, and for the most part we agree on this. We agree that equal pay for equal work is the right thing to do. What I would add is that equal pay for equal work is already the law. Paycheck discrimination on the basis of gender is wrong. It is already illegal in the United States. Congress prohibited discrimination based on gender in the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Equal Pay Act is very clear: ``No employer . . . shall discriminate . . . between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees . . . less than . . . he pays . . . employees of the opposite sex . . . for equal work . . . which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions. . . . '' Equal pay for equal work. That already is the law; therefore, it is unnecessary to have yet another law saying basically the same thing. I object. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard. The Senator from Washington.”