Paycheck Fairness Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. ALLEN. Madam Chair, I rise today to speak out against H.R. 7, legislation that places unprecedented restrictions and liability on job creators that will harm the very women it claims to protect.

As a small business owner with over 40 years of experience creating jobs, I know just how hard it can be for employers to find skilled and qualified workers.

With 7.6 million available jobs throughout our Nation, the last thing we need to do is overregulate our businesses, especially when Federal law already makes it illegal to pay different wages to women for equal work.

H.R. 7 dramatically increases liability for employers, eliminates a business owner's ability to contest gender-based pay discrimination cases, expands damages, and encourages frivolous lawsuits.

Furthermore, this partisan bill offers no new protections against pay discrimination in the workplace. Rather, H.R. 7 directly benefits trial lawyers at the expense of working women. Taken as a whole, this bill will very likely limit or obstruct an employer's efforts to recruit, hire, promote workers, and to increase their pay--once again, empty partisan promises from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.

However, after passing historic tax reform under the Republican-led Congress and eliminating burdensome red tape under the leadership of President Trump, our businesses are continuing to empower women across this country at unprecedented levels.

We have more women working in the U.S. than ever before, nearly 75 million. Women filled nearly 60 percent of the 2.8 million jobs created in the last year. One in five employer businesses nationwide is owned by women, including by my wife of 45 years, Robin.

I need to keep this momentum going, not obstruct employers' efforts to recruit, hire, and promote workers.

Madam Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote today on H.R. 7.

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