Pascrell Lauds Paycheck Fairness Act Passage

Landmark bill would help close pervasive gender pay gap

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) celebrated the passage in the House of Representatives of H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act, which seeks to raise wages and bring greater equality to women in the workplace.

“The gender pay gap continues to be a stain on our nation, with women – and particularly women of color – unjustly paid lower wages than their male counterparts,” said Rep. Pascrell. “If we are serious about equal rights, women must enjoy rights as full participants in our economic life. The Paycheck Fairness Act would make it easier for employees to identify and correct wage inequality. As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we recognize we still have a long way to go in achieving the promise of equal rights. Today’s passage brings us one step closer. It is my hope that my granddaughters and their daughters after them will experience the realized American promise of equal pay for equal work.”

Since 1997, Rep. Pascrell and House Democrats have repeatedly attempted to enact the Paycheck Fairness Act into law. Pascrell has been a frequent co-sponsor of this legislation, and combatting discrimination in the workplace has remained a core goal of his work in the Congress. In 2009, Rep. Pascrell signed onto the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, one of President Obama’s signature legislative achievements, which strengthened worker protections against pay discrimination. In 2013, Pascrell co-sponsored the Minimum Wage Fairness Act to set forth a gradual increase of the federal minimum wage for employees over the next four years.

Rep. Pascrell has been a leader in the new Democratic House in working to aggressively seek broad legislative reforms. The Paycheck Fairness Act is a central plank of the House Democrats’ For the People agenda geared towards creating great equality in America and rooting out endemic corruption. It joins measures already passed by the House that would create background checks, ban military-style assault weapons, and impose real campaign finance reforms on our broken political system. Pascrell is a cosponsor of all these pieces of legislation.

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