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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 97 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

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. Barragan, 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. Cardenas, 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. Garcia 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. Kamlager-Dove, 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. Sanchez, 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. 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. Velazquez, 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, non-
        Hispanic 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;
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;
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 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;
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
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) recognizes the disparity between wages paid to women 
        and men and its impact on women, families, and the Nation; and
            (2) reaffirms its commitment to supporting equal pay and to 
        narrowing the gender wage gap.
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