Political Quotes

“I want to start by thanking my colleague, Senator Mikulski, for her leadership in the fight for equal pay for equal work. It has been 50 years since the signing of the Equal Pay Act. But despite how far women have come, despite all the progress women have made and the ways women contribute across our economy, women still only make 79 cents on the dollar. The gap is even wider for women of color: for African-American women, 60 cents on the dollar; for Native American women, 59 cents on the dollar; and for Hispanic women, 55 cents on the dollar. This status quo is not only deeply unfair to women, but it is also bad for families and it is bad for our economy because today 60 percent of working families rely on wages from two earners. We have to do better. That is why I was so pleased when earlier this year the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission took a very important step in the right direction with a modest proposal to collect pay data on a form that employers already submit in order to accomplish one goal--making sure that we have solid information about how employers pay their male and female workers. This proposal is pretty straightforward. It brings new and much needed transparency to workplaces and might even help businesses address pay gaps that they weren't even aware existed. It would also make enforcement of pay discrimination laws more effective and efficient.…”