Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I come to the floor today to urge my colleagues to affirmatively and unabashedly vote for cloture on the Paycheck Fairness Act that we wish to bring before the Senate. This is part of a very long march the women of the United States of America have been walking for a very long time. In 1963 President Lyndon Johnson wanted to create a great society, and he envisioned three civil rights acts to right the wrongs of the past. One was equal pay--the Equal Pay Act--which would ensure that women would get equal pay for equal work. The second was the benchmark Civil Rights Act, and the third was the Voting Rights Act. Lyndon Johnson picked the Equal Pay Act as his first action because he felt it would be one of the easier ones to pass and to implement. Little did he know that the corporate wrath that was against women in the past would come to that legislation. However, a Democratically controlled Senate moved that bill and began the long march for civil rights. But guess what happened in the ensuing 49 years. On June 10, 1963, President Johnson signed that bill. Forty-nine years later, women still make less than men. Women in the United States of America make only 77 cents for every dollar men make doing the same job. This is unfair, and it is un-American. Remember from where we have come. Everybody likes to say to us: Oh, you have come a long way. Well, we don't think we have come a long way. We have only gained 18 cents in 49 years.…”