IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 30 

Recognizing the significance of equal pay and the disparity between wages 

paid to men and women. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 2, 2019 

Ms. FRANKEL (for herself, Ms. DELAURO, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. 

OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. BEYER, Mr. NADLER, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. 

BUTTERFIELD, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. 

SCHRIER, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. KAPTUR, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. MOORE, Mr. 

TAKANO, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. 

SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Mr. KILMER, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. 

SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. VAN DREW, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. RUSH, Ms. CASTOR

of Florida, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 

DESAULNIER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. 

KHANNA, Mr. COHEN, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Mr. 

PALLONE, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. COX of California, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. 

FUDGE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. HILL of California, Ms. 

DEGETTE, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. GARCIA of 

Texas, Mrs. CRAIG, Mr. WELCH, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mrs. 

CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. OMAR, Ms. 

WILSON of Florida, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, 

Ms. DELBENE, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. 

MUCARSEL-POWELL, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. MCNERNEY, 

Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. HECK, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WEXTON, Ms. 

GABBARD, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. COOPER, 

Ms. HAALAND, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. TITUS, Ms. DEAN, Mr. MICHAEL F. 

DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. PAPPAS, Ms. SHALALA, Mr. SOTO, Mr. 

CUMMINGS, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. EVANS, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mr. 

CARBAJAL, Ms. BASS, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. LYNCH, and Mr. 

CASE) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Education and Labor 


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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)(1)) 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 over 5 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 

80 cents for every dollar paid to men, while Asian-American women working full-time, year-round are paid 85 

cents, White, non-Hispanic women working full-time, 

year-round are paid 77 cents, African-American women 

working full-time, year-round are paid 61 cents, Native 

Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women working full-time, 

year-round are paid 59 cents, American Indian and Alaska Native women working full-time, year-round are paid 

58 cents, and Hispanic women working full-time, yearround are paid 53 cents compared to White, non-Hispanic men; 

Whereas April 2, 2019, is Equal Pay Day, marking the day 

that symbolizes how long into 2019 women must work to 

make what men were paid in 2018; 

Whereas March 5, 2019, is Asian American and Pacific Islander Women’s Equal Pay Day; April 19, 2019, is 

White Women’s Equal Pay Day; August 22, 2019, is 

Black Women’s Equal Pay Day; September 23, 2019, is 


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Native Women’s Equal Pay Day; and November 20, 

2019, is Latinas’ Equal Pay Day; 

Whereas if current trends continue, on average women collectively will have to wait 40 years for equal pay, AfricanAmerican women will have to wait 100 years, and Hispanic women will have to wait 205 years; 

Whereas the disparity in median annual earnings for women 

and men working full-time year-round is $10,169, which 

can add up to more than $400,000 over a career, and an 

estimated more than $1,000,000 in lost income for millennial women; 

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 77 percent of 

men’s earnings, and women with an advanced degree 

earning 74 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 are breadwinners in 

half of families with children under 18, and mothers 

working full-time are paid 71 percent as much as fathers; 

Whereas median pay for women with disabilities was 72 percent that of men with disabilities; 

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

$900,000,000,000 in annual lost wages, so that families 


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have less money to spend on goods and services that help 

drive economic growth; 

Whereas if the annual gender wage gap were eliminated, on 

average, a working woman in the United States would 

have enough money for approximately 13 more months of 

child care, 10 additional months of rent, 7 additional 

months of mortgage and utilities payments, the full cost 

of tuition and fees for a 2-year college, 7 additional 

months of premiums for employer-based health insurance, 

up to 8.4 additional years of birth control, more than 70 

weeks of food, or enough money to pay off student loan 

debt in just under 3 years; 

Whereas women hold two-thirds of the Nation’s 

$1,400,000,000,000 outstanding student loan debt, totaling over $890,000,000,000, 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 discrimination in education, hiring, and promotion has played a role in maintaining a workforce segregated by sex; 

Whereas sex-based wage differentials— 

(1) depress employee wages and living standards 

necessary for health and wellbeing; 

(2) reduce family incomes and contribute to the 

higher poverty rates among women and their families; 

and 


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(3) prevent the effective and maximum utilization of 

available labor resources; 

Whereas a wage gap exists in nearly every occupational field, 

but opening traditionally male 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 half the size of the wage gap between nonunion 

women and men, and women union members typically 

earn $224 more per week than women who are not represented by unions; 

Whereas as much as 38 percent of the wage gap is unexplained by observable factors such as variation in educational attainment, industry, and occupation, and may 

reflect discrimination; 

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 child care, 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; 


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Whereas 60 to 70 percent of 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 half and the economy would add 

$512,000,000,000 annually, based on a 2017 analysis; 

and 

Whereas numerous national organizations have designated 

Tuesday, April 2, 2019, as Equal Pay Day to represent 

the additional time that women must work to compensate 

for the average 20-percent lower wages paid to women 

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 


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1 (2) reaffirms its commitment to supporting 

2 equal pay for equal work and to narrowing the gen3 der wage gap. 

Æ 


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