On the recordNovember 17, 2010
I rise today to express my disappointment in the failure of the Senate to invoke cloture on the Paycheck Fairness Act. After our triumph 2 years ago in advancing gender equality through the Lilly Ledbetter Act, the first piece of legislation signed by President Obama, the Paycheck Fairness Act would have been another step towards ending gender discrimination in the workplace. Four decades after the Equal Pay Act was signed into law, women still earn only 77 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. That equates to almost $11,000 less per year. In Rhode Island, women on average make approximately $36,500 where men make $49,000. For full-time, college educated Rhode Island workers over 25 years old, women make an average of $55,000, while men average $70,000. This is simply unacceptable and shows that the remedies provided by current law are not adequate. Those who dismiss the disparity as a consequence of women's 'choice of work' ignore the fact that the wage gap exists even in highly skilled industries such as aerospace engineering and network systems and data communications analysis. The Paycheck Fairness Act would have required employers seeking to pay women less money than their male counterparts to justify the difference with legitimate business factors.
