On the recordMarch 27, 2019
As vice chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, I am so proud that our committee made it a top priority this year to bring the Paycheck Fairness Act to the floor, and I congratulate Chairman Scott for his leadership. This is an issue where the evidence could not be clearer. In Michigan's Ninth District, which I represent, for example, women's median annual wage is more than $10,000 lower than men's. I don't care how many jobs are created or how many women are working, we need to do something to, at long last, make women's pay equal to men's. If we allow this gap to persist, we are not just telling women they aren't worth as much as men. We are doing real damage to entire families and to our economy. Failure to tackle the pay gap isn't just discriminatory; it is shockingly shortsighted. The Paycheck Fairness Act will finally align our treatment of gender discrimination with other established antidiscrimination policies. This is an opportunity to realize equal pay for equal work that we simply cannot afford to miss. I regret that my good friends across the aisle did not introduce a single bill to strengthen the Equal Pay Act across the 20 years they held the gavel in this Chamber. I hope they will join us today to lift up America's women and families to full equality at long last. Finally, I include in the Record a strong letter of support for H.R. 7 from the AFL-CIO. AFL-CIO, March 25, 2019.…
