IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 97 

Recognizing the significance of equal pay and the disparity between wages 

paid to men and women. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2024 

Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida (for herself, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. WILLIAMS of 

Georgia, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. AMO, 

Ms. BALINT, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BISHOP of 

Georgia, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. BONAMICI, 

Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. BROWN, Ms. BROWNLEY, 

Ms. BUDZINSKI, Ms. BUSH, Ms. CARAVEO, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. 

CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, 

Mr. CASE, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. CHU, Ms. 

CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COSTA, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. 

DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. 

DELBENE, Mr. DELUZIO, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. 

ESCOBAR, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. FROST, Mr. 

GARAMENDI, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GOLDMAN

of New York, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. VICENTE GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. 

GOTTHEIMER, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. 

HORSFORD, Ms. HOULAHAN, Ms. HOYLE of Oregon, Mr. IVEY, Ms. 

JACKSON LEE, Mr. JACKSON of North Carolina, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, 

Ms. JACOBS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAMLAGERDOVE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KEATING, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KHANNA, 

Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mr. 

KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE

of California, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Ms. LEE of Nevada, Mr. LIEU, 

Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. MAGAZINER, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. MENG, Ms. 

MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Mr. MOULTON, 

Mr. MULLIN, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEAL, Ms. NORTON, 

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. OMAR, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. 

PAPPAS, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PETTERSEN, Mr. 

PHILLIPS, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mrs. 

RAMIREZ, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. ROSS, Mr. RYAN, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. SALINAS, 

Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. 

SHERRILL, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. SOTO, Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. 


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STANTON, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. SWALWELL, Mrs. SYKES, 

Mr. TAKANO, Mr. THANEDAR, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. TITUS, 

Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. 

TRONE, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. 

WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WEXTON, Ms. WILD, Ms. WILSON of Florida, 

Mr. DAVIS of North Carolina, and Mr. CONNOLLY) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Education and the Workforce 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the significance of equal pay and the disparity 

between wages paid to men and women. 

Whereas section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)) prohibits discrimination in compensation for equal work on the basis of sex; 

Whereas title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

2000e et seq.) prohibits discrimination in compensation 

because of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex; 

Whereas, more than 6 decades after the passage of the Equal 

Pay Act of 1963 (29 U.S.C. 206 note), Census Bureau 

data show that women working full time, year round are 

paid an average of 84 cents for every dollar paid to all 

men, while Latinas are paid 57 cents, American Indian 

and Alaska Native women are paid 59 cents, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women are paid 66 cents, African-American women are paid 69 cents, White, nonHispanic women are paid 80 cents, and Asian-American 

women are paid 99 cents, for every dollar paid to White, 

non-Hispanic men; 

Whereas March 12, 2024, is Equal Pay Day, marking the 

day that symbolizes how long into 2024 women must 

work to make what men were paid in 2023; 


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Whereas April 3, 2024, is observed as Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Women’s Equal Pay 

Day; July 9, 2024, is observed as Black Women’s Equal 

Pay Day; August 28, 2024, is observed as Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Women’s Equal Pay Day; October 3, 

2024, is observed as Latinas’ Equal Pay Day; and November 21, 2024, is observed as Native Women’s Equal 

Pay Day; 

Whereas LGBTQI+ women and women with disabilities may 

face further pay disparities; 

Whereas, if current trends continue, Asian women are projected to close the gender pay gap for all workers, including part-time, full-time, and seasonal workers, in 23 

years, White women in 43 years, Black women in 121 

years, and Latinas in 187 years; 

Whereas the disparity in median annual earnings for women 

and men working full time, year round is $9,990, which 

can add up to nearly $400,000 over a career; 

Whereas women’s median earnings are less than men’s at 

every level of academic achievement, with women with 

less than a high school diploma earning 72 percent of 

men’s earnings, and women with a professional degree 

earning 73 percent of men’s earnings at the same level 

of education; 

Whereas women are often paid less than men with lower levels of education, with women with associate’s degrees 

paid less than men with a high school diploma, and 

women with master’s degrees paid less than men with 

bachelor’s degrees; 

Whereas, in the United States, mothers working full time 

typically are paid 75 percent of what fathers are paid; 


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Whereas the gender wage gap collectively costs women employed full time in the United States more than 

$965,000,000,000 in annual lost wages, so that families 

have less money to spend on goods and services that help 

drive economic growth; 

Whereas, if the annual gender wage gap were eliminated for 

just 1 year, on average, a working woman in the United 

States would have enough money for approximately 11 

months of childcare, nearly 8 additional months of rent, 

more than 5 additional months of mortgage and utilities 

payments, 2 semesters of tuition and fees for a 4-year 

public university or the full cost of tuition and fees for 

attending a 2-year college, more than 6 additional 

months of premiums for employer-based health insurance, 

more than 55 weeks of food, or enough money to pay off 

student loan debt in just under 5 years; 

Whereas women hold nearly two-thirds of the Nation’s outstanding student loan debt, totaling over 

$929,000,000,000, and are less likely to be able to pay 

off their student loan debt promptly due to wage disparities; 

Whereas the wage gap impacts women’s ability to save for retirement and women’s total Social Security and pension 

benefits, and older women are more likely than men to 

live in poverty; 

Whereas sex-based wage differentials reduce family incomes 

and contribute to the higher poverty rates among women 

and their families; 

Whereas a wage gap exists in nearly every occupational field, 

but opening traditionally male-dominated jobs to women 


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and reducing occupational segregation by sex increases 

earnings for women; 

Whereas nearly two-thirds of workers paid the minimum 

wage or less are women, and the concentration of women 

in low-wage jobs is a significant contributor to the wage 

gap; 

Whereas the gender wage gap between union women and men 

is about two-thirds the size of the wage gap between nonunion women and men, and women union members typically earn $191 more per week than women who are not 

represented by unions; 

Whereas two-thirds of private sector workers report that employers either prohibit or discourage them from discussing their pay, which can keep the existence of pay 

discrimination hidden and prevent remedying that discrimination; 

Whereas the lack of family friendly policies, such as access 

to affordable, quality childcare, paid family and medical 

leave, paid sick days, and fair and predictable work 

schedules, forces many caregivers to choose between providing for their families financially and ensuring their 

loved ones receive quality care, and contributes to the 

wage gap; 

Whereas 1 in 3 women have been on the receiving end of sexual harassment during their careers, and an estimated 87 

to 94 percent of those who experience sexual harassment 

never file a formal complaint; 

Whereas workplace harassment forces many women to leave 

their occupation or industry, or pass up opportunities for 

advancement, and this contributes to the gender wage 

gap; 


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Whereas equal pay strengthens the economic security of families and enhances retirement savings; 

Whereas, when women are paid fairly, families are stronger, 

businesses prosper, and American values and the economy are strengthened; 

Whereas, if women in the United States received equal pay 

comparable with men, poverty for working women would 

be reduced by more than 40 percent, and the economy 

would add $541,000,000,000 in wage and salary income 

annually; and 

Whereas numerous national organizations have designated 

Tuesday, March 12, 2024, as ‘‘Equal Pay Day’’ to represent the additional time that women must work to compensate for the average 16-percent lower wages paid to 

women working full time, year round last year: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) recognizes the disparity between wages paid 

4 to women and men and its impact on women, fami5 lies, and the Nation; and 

6 (2) reaffirms its commitment to supporting 

7 equal pay and to narrowing the gender wage gap. 

Æ 


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