The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“EQUAL PAY DAY” mentioning Patty Murray was published in the Senate section on page S1805 on March 25.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
EQUAL PAY DAY
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, our Nation is built on some fundamental ideas. One of those ideas is fairness.
But there are millions of women across this country today who are doing the same job as their male colleagues and are being paid less.
That is why on this National Equal Pay Day, I stand with my fellow Senators to close the pay equity gap and ensure equal pay for equal work.
Fifty-eight years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act, women still only earn, on average, 82 cents for every dollar paid to men.
This wage gap is even worse for women of color.
African-American women who work full time make only 63 cents for every dollar paid to White males.
Hispanic women make only 55 cents on the dollar.
In nearly every industry in our country, women's median earnings remain less than their male counterparts.
There has been one profound change since the passage of the Equal Pay Act 58 years ago. Forty-one percent of women are now the primary-or only-breadwinners for their families.
In my own State of Illinois, women earn, on average, just 81 cents for every dollar earned by men.
African-American women in Illinois make just 63 cents for every dollar paid to White males. Hispanic women are paid even less-just 49 cents on the dollar.
This pay discrimination hurts working families. More than one-third of households led by women in Illinois live in poverty.
Over their lifetimes, this persistent pay equity gap will cost the average woman in my State nearly $500,000 in lost wages.
This is not right, and it is not fair. And it means women have to work that much harder to support their families and retire in dignity, and too many can't achieve those goals no matter how long or hard they work.
The coronavirus pandemic has underscored just how deep and damaging pay inequality is in the United States.
Nearly 2 in 3 frontline workers are women. Yet they-nearly universally-are paid less than men in the same roles.
For example, 88 percent of registered nurses are women. Yet they make 93 cents for every dollar a male nurse makes.
Women who work as home health aides, personal care aides, or nursing assistants typically lose $250 per month, or $3,000 per year, because of the gender wage gap.
While our economy is slowing starting to recover as people become vaccinated and the virus is brought under control, economists warn that it may take years for women to recover from the economic and career setbacks they have suffered during this pandemic.
Four times as many women as men left the workforce in September of 2020 alone. More than 860,000 women compared to 216,000 men.
From wage discrimination to the unavailability of childcare, women are not getting a fair deal. That means working families are not getting a fair deal. That must change.
This Senate should pass the Paycheck Fairness Act reintroduced by Senator Murray.
The Paycheck Fairness Act would build on the successes of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which was the first bill signed into law by President Obama back in 2009.
The Lily Ledbetter Act prohibits gender-based pay discrimination, but it is hard to enforce because many employers still maintain policies that punish employees who voluntarily share salary information with their coworkers.
Workers can't demand equal pay if they don't know that they are being underpaid.
The Paycheck Fairness Act would close loopholes that still permit retaliation against workers who disclose their wages.
It would prohibit employers from asking prospective employees about their salary history.
It would require that employers prove that pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related reasons, not simply because they think that
``women's work'' is worth less.
I am disappointed that Republican opposition has prevented the Senate from passing this bill, which is vital to the economic security of millions of American women and their families. But we are not giving up.
Women have carried America's families and our economy through this pandemic. As the pandemic begins to end, so should the persistent pay discrimination against women.
I urge my colleagues across the aisle to commit to passing the Paycheck Fairness Act and working with us to close this gender wage gap once and for all.
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