Paycheck Fairness Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 303, I call up the bill (H.R. 7) to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act.

When President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, our country codified the basic idea that all workers should earn equal pay for equal work, regardless of sex. Regrettably, more than five decades later and after the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, that promise remains unfulfilled.

Today, women continue to be paid, on average, 82 cents on the dollar compared to men. This wage disparity is far worse for women of color, who make less than White men and White women. It exists across every sector, regardless of education, experience, occupation, industry or job title. A recent Census Bureau study found that 38 to 70 percent of the gender wage gap is unexplained and likely due to discrimination.

Drawn out over a lifetime, the persistent wage gap could cost a woman anywhere from $400,000 to $2 million. This impacts both workers and their families, often meaning the difference between financial stability and perpetual hardship.

The Paycheck Fairness Act offers an opportunity to finally secure equal pay for equal work. The bill strengthens the Equal Pay Act by bolstering workers' rights to discuss their wages with coworkers and making it easier for workers to join class action lawsuits; enhancing the enforcement tools available to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Labor Department; and, more importantly, by closing loopholes for employer defenses and requiring employers to prove pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related reasons.

The Biden administration has issued a Statement of Administration Policy in support of this bill. It states: ``Ensuring equal pay is essential to advancing American values of fairness and equity.''

Then it adds: ``The Paycheck Fairness Act is commonsense legislation that would strengthen the Equal Pay Act and give workers more tools to fight sex-based pay discrimination.''

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the Statement of Administration Policy of H.R. 7. Statement of Administration Policy H.R. 7--Paycheck Fairness Act--Rep. DeLauro, D-CT, and 225 cosponsors

The Administration strongly supports House passage of H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act. Ensuring equal pay is essential to advancing American values of fairness and equity. Women lose thousands of dollars each year, and hundreds of thousands over a lifetime, because of the gender and racial wage gap. Women working full-time, year-round in 2019 earned 82 cents for every dollar earned by men working full-time; year-round, and these disparities are greater for women of color. Pay inequity also impacts individuals who face intersecting forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, including LGBTQ+ individuals.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of women have dropped out of the labor force, partly reflecting the increased domestic labor demands on women. Caregiving demands often fall disproportionately on women, which leads to many women having to reduce their hours, resulting in lower earnings. As more and more American families rely on women's income, the pay gap hurts not only women, but also the families who depend on them. The cumulative impact of wage gaps adds up to financial insecurity over the course of a career for women and their families and for generations who follow.

The Paycheck Fairness Act is commonsense legislation that would strengthen the Equal Pay Act and give workers more tools to fight sex-based pay discrimination. It would also take major steps toward increasing pay transparency, an essential provision to advance equality in the workplace, by explicitly protecting workers from retaliation for simply discussing their compensation with their colleagues. The bill would also expand opportunities for workers to receive training on effective negotiation skills. The bill would also limit an employer's ability to rely on salary history during the hiring process to set pay, or when determining wages for a promotion. H.R. 7 would hold employers accountable by closing judicially created loopholes for employer defenses and by adding a class action option under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The bill would require the collection of pay data to enable better enforcement of laws prohibiting pay discrimination.

The Administration looks forward to continuing to work with the Congress to address pay equity and urges quick action on this landmark bill.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, this is a critical time to secure equal pay for equal work. Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has driven over 2 million women out of the workforce. As women return to the workplace, failure to strengthen the equal pay protections will exacerbate and entrench the gender wage gap for years to come.

Mr. Speaker, we all know that discrimination exists. The Paycheck Fairness Act will allow victims the tools they need to combat and also close loopholes that allows employers to escape liability for discriminatory pay differences.

Today, we are talking about financial security for millions of families. Sixty-four percent of mothers are either the sole family breadwinner or co-breadwinner. We cannot continue to allow gender-based pay inequity to rob half of all workers and their families the wages they deserve.

The Paycheck Fairness Act is our chance to finally help close the gender wage gap by reinforcing the Equal Pay Act and strengthening protections for working women. The bill would ensure that gender equality on the job is not an aspiration but a reality.

Madam Speaker, I ask our colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.

Madam Speaker, these amendments will: require the EEOC to provide for the collection of annual compensation data for employees disaggregated by race, sex, and national origin; add a requirement that employers post notices and distribute information electronically informing employees of their rights under this act; direct the Department of Labor establish a program to award grants to employers to engage in training and conduct self-audits to identify and reduce bias in pay practices; direct the Secretary of Labor to conduct a study and a research literature review of gender wage gap in the teenage workforce; and reestablish the National Equal Pay Equity Task Force that had been set up under the Obama administration to coordinate efforts between the Department of Labor, the Department of Justice, and the Office of Personnel Management.

These amendments will make meaningful improvements to the bill, and I urge a ``yes'' vote on the en bloc amendments. I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I would hope we would defeat the amendment. This just recreates the loopholes that we are trying to close. You have to start with the idea that there is a differential in pay. And what we are trying to do is-- if you can explain this in any kind of way that is business-related, then they get away with it.

The Fair Pay Act says it has to be bona fide and required by the job. If it is not required by the job, why do you have a differential in pay?

We can do better than this, and I hope we defeat the amendment.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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