Rep. Lynn Woolsey Holds a Hearing On H.R. 1338, the Paycheck Fairness Act
Political Transcript Wire › August 20, 2009
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Rep. Lynn Woolsey Holds a Hearing On H.R. 1338, the Paycheck Fairness Act
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR, SUBCOMMITTEE ON WORKFORCE PROTECTIONS HOLDS A HEARING ON H.R. 1338, THE PAYCHECK FAIRNESS ACT
JULY 11, 2007SPEAKERS: REP. LYNN WOOLSEY, D-CALIF., CHAIRWOMAN REP. DONALD M. PAYNE, D-N.J. REP. TIMOTHY H. BISHOP, D-N.Y. REP. CAROL SHEA-PORTER, D-N.H. REP. PHIL HARE, D-ILL. REP. GEORGE MILLER, D-CALIF. EX OFFICIOREP. JOE WILSON, R-S.C., RANKING MEMBER REP. TOM PRICE, R-GA. REP. JOHN KLINE, R-MINN. REP. HOWARD P. "BUCK" MCKEON, R-CALIF. EX OFFICIOWITNESSES: EVELYN MURPHY, PRESIDENT, WAGE PROJECT, INC.JOSEPH SELLERS, PARTNER, COHEN, MILSTEIN, HAUSFELD & TOLL, PLLCMARCIA GREENBERGER, CO-PRESIDENT, NATIONAL WOMEN'S LAW CENTERCAMILLE A. OLSON, PARTNER, SEYFARTH SHAW, LLP[*] WOOLSEY: A quorum is present. The hearing of the Workforce Protection Subcommittee on The Paycheck Fairness Act, H.R. 1338, will come to order. Pursuant to committee rule 12-A, any member may submit an opening statement in writing which will be made part of the permanent record.I now recognize myself followed by Ranking Member Joe Wilson for an opening statement. I thank you all for coming. This is going to be a hearing on H.R. 1338, the Paycheck Fairness Act, sponsored by Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut. Representative DeLauro first introduced this bill about 10 years ago. And she has not stopped working on it from the moment she introduced it. And I'm proud to be one of the over 200 co-sponsors of this legislation which strengthens the existing Equal Pay Act to ensure that women make equal pay for equal work.This is important because in the 43 years since the passage of the Equal Pay Act, women still make less than men doing the same work. In April the full Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on equal pay, and our witnesses confirmed this.And although most women are in the labor force, including 70 percent of all moms, on the average, they earn only 77 percent of their male counterparts. This translates into lost income anywhere from $400,000 to $2 million over a lifetime of work. This gap exists at the beginning of a woman's career, and it grows wider over time. Dr. Catherine Hill from the Association of American University Women was one of our witnesses in the April hearing. She testified that a recently published study conducted by the AAUW found that one year out of college women make only 80 percent of what men earn, and that the gap exists in every career field and in every occupation.The study also found that 10 years later a woman makes only 69 percent of a man's salary. This study looked at a full range of other factors that could explain this difference between men and women 10 years down the road and discovered that a full 12 percent of the gap was attributable to wage discrimination....See the full content of this document
