IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 507 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in support of a women’s 

economic bill of rights. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2014 

Mr. BARBER (for himself, Mr. BARROW of Georgia, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, 

Ms. DELAURO, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. ENYART, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HONDA, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE

JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. LOWENTHAL, 

Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

PETERS of California, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. 

RUSH, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Ms. 

TITUS, Mr. TONKO, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. VARGAS, and Ms. WILSON

of Florida) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in 

support of a women’s economic bill of rights. 

Whereas equal opportunity and fairness are among the Nation’s most cherished tenets and are central to the Nation’s economic prosperity; 

Whereas women have entered the workforce in record numbers over the past 50 years and families increasingly rely 

on the wages of both men and women; 


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•HRES 507 IH 

Whereas, despite the enactment of the Equal Pay Act of 

1963, many women continue to earn significantly lower 

pay than men for equal work; 

Whereas, nationwide, women on average earn only 77 cents 

for every dollar earned by men; 

Whereas, on average, African-American women are paid only 

64 cents and Latina women are paid just 55 cents for 

every dollar paid to non-Hispanic White men; 

Whereas women represent nearly two-thirds of all minimum 

wage workers; 

Whereas the poverty rate for women—14.5 percent—is the 

highest in 20 years; 

Whereas, with 40 percent of working women serving as the 

primary breadwinners in their families, pay inequality depresses the wages of working families; 

Whereas women should not have to choose between earning 

a paycheck, having a family, and caring for a loved one; 

Whereas, in many families, women are the primary caregivers 

for children and dependents, yet 39 percent of full-time 

workers in the private sector lack access to paid sick 

leave and over 70 percent of low-wage workers do not 

have a single paid sick day; 

Whereas, because over 60 percent of women who gave birth 

in a given year also worked during that time, discrimination and denial of reasonable workplace accommodations 

threaten the success of women in the workforce; 

Whereas the existence of pay disparities and workplace inequities threaten women’s economic security throughout 

their lifetimes and undermine women’s retirement secuVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:21 Mar 07, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR507.IH HR507

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•HRES 507 IH 

rity, which is often based on earnings while in the workforce; 

Whereas neither women nor men have the paid leave they 

need to provide care to children, spouses, elders or to 

care for themselves, and ensuring men have access to 

paid leave promotes gender equity in both work and in 

caregiving; 

Whereas women own 28 percent of all American firms and 

families and communities rely upon women-owned firms 

for employment and wages; and 

Whereas, despite the enactment of the Women’s Federal Procurement Program, women-owned firms continue to secure less than four percent of Federal contracts losing 

access to billions of dollars in opportunity annually: Now 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

3 This Resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Women’s Eco4 nomic Bill of Rights Resolution of 2014’’. 

5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

6 It is the sense of the House of Representatives that 

7 the Congress should support efforts that guarantee— 

8 (1) pay equity, ensuring equal pay for equal 

9 work; 

10 (2) fair treatment in the workplace, including 

11 reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers, 

12 enabling them to continue working to support their 

13 families; 


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•HRES 507 IH 

1 (3) access to paid family and medical leave for 

2 women and men; 

3 (4) economic and retirement security for women 

4 and men; and 

5 (5) fair access, for women and men, to business 

6 capital, Federal contracts, and a marketplace that is 

7 conducive to small business growth. 

Æ 


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