Presidential Documents

18497

Federal Register

Vol. 62, No. 72

Tuesday, April 15, 1997

Title 3—

The President

Proclamation 6985 of April 10, 1997

National Pay Inequity Awareness Day, 1997

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Although more than three decades have passed since the Equal Pay Act

and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act were signed into law, women working

full-time and year round in the United States, on average, still earn only

71 percent of the wages earned by men. This means that, for the 1996

calendar year, the wages of the average American female worker will not

match those of the average male worker until April 11 of this year.

Although the pay gap has narrowed over the past two decades, unfair

pay practices persist in many U.S. business sectors. Paying a woman less

than a male co-worker with equal skills and job responsibilities hurts that

woman and her family—not only in immediate material benefit, but also

in her ability to invest and save for retirement. Working women deserve—

and are demanding—fair and equal pay for their time spent on the job.

Over a quarter of a million women surveyed by the Department of Labor

indicated that ‘‘improving pay scales’’ is one of their highest priorities

in bringing fairness to the workplace.

To address this problem, my Administration has moved on several fronts

simultaneously: I signed the increase in the minimum wage into law, initiated

a pension education campaign, strengthened equal employment law enforcement, and created a Women’s Bureau Fair Pay Clearinghouse at the Department of Labor, which disseminates information on working women’s wages

and occupations and on organizations that are active in improving women’s

wages. In addition, my Administration, with over 200 private-sector partners,

has formed the American Savings Education Council to educate women

and men on how they can ensure their financial independence in retirement.

Together with renewed attention focused on the reality of pay inequity

and what it means for working women across the country, these initiatives

create real opportunities for employers, working women, and organizations

to develop new and effective approaches that achieve pay equity.

Strong enforcement of equal employment laws also plays a critical role

in resolving unfair pay. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

enforces laws that make it illegal to discriminate in wages, or to limit

or segregate job applicants or employees in any way that would deprive

them of opportunities because of sex, race, color, religion, age, national

origin, or disability.

The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs

enforces nondiscrimination and affirmative action laws that apply to employers that do business with the Federal Government, ensuring that Government

contractors prevent and remedy discrimination and resolve matters of pay

equity.

It is vital that we aggressively enforce our pay equity laws. Women deserve

to be rewarded on an equal basis for their contributions to the American

work force.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution

and laws of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim April 11,
18498 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 72 / Tuesday, April 15, 1997 / Presidential Documents

1997, as National Pay Inequity Awareness Day. I call upon Government

officials, law enforcement agencies, business and industry leaders, educators,

and all the people of the United States to recognize the full value of the

skills and contributions of women in the labor force.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of

April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and

of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred

[FR Doc. 97–9893

Filed 4–14–97; 8:45 am]

Billing code 3195–01–P

and twenty-first.

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