Floor Statements

The bill before us was the first substantive piece of legislation considered by the 111th Congress. In a matter of days, it could be one of the first substantive measures signed into law by the 44th President of the United States. And despite all the promises of openness and bipartisanship, at the end of the day it will have been considered not once, not twice, but three separate times in the Hous... Read more »

Discrimination in the workplace is wrong. Paying women lower wages for the same work is wrong. It’s also illegal. Congress enacted protections to ensure equal pay for equal work in 1963, when the Equal Pay Act was added to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Congress acted again to protect women and all Americans from workplace discrimination with enactment of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Together... Read more »

I rise in opposition to this ill-considered and over-reaching legislation. Proponents of this bill claim it simply reverses a May 29, 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision and clarifies congressional opposition to wage discrimination. In reality, however, this bill will set into motion a series of unintended consequences that will ripple through the economy and plague workers, small businesses, and the... Read more »