•HCON 59 IH 
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 despite the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 
(29 U.S.C. 206 note) more than 5 decades ago, which es-
tablishes that employers shall not discriminate in wages 
on the basis of sex, but shall provide equal pay for equal 
work, Census Bureau data shows that Black women 
working full-time, year-round are typically paid 61 cents 
for every dollar paid to White, non-Hispanic men; 
Whereas if the current trends continue, on average Black 
women will have to wait 100 years to achieve equal pay; 
Whereas the median annual pay for a Black woman in the 
United States working full-time, year-round is $36,735, 
which means that typically Black women lose nearly 
$947,000 in potential earnings over their lifetime to the 
wage gap; 
Whereas lost wages mean Black women have less money to 
support themselves and their families, save and invest for 
the future, and spend on goods and services, causing 
businesses and the economy to suffer as a result; 
Whereas Black women’s median earnings are less than men’s 
at every level of academic achievement, with Black 
women with less than a high school diploma earning 24 
percent less than White men, and Black women with an 
advanced degree earning 36 percent less than White men 
with the same level of education; 
Whereas, in the United States, more than 80 percent of 
Black mothers are key breadwinners for their families, 
but mothers working full-time are typically paid only 54 
percent as much as White fathers; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:49 Aug 23, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC59.IH
HC59
jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
•HCON 59 IH 
Whereas the lack of access to affordable, quality child care, 
paid family and medical leave, paid sick leave, and other 
family friendly workplace policies forces many Black 
women to choose between their paycheck or job and get-
ting quality care for themselves or their family members, 
and contributes to the wage gap; 
Whereas, if the wage gap were eliminated, on average, a 
Black woman working full-time, year-round would have 
enough money for approximately 2 and a half years of 
child care; more than 2.6 additional years of tuition and 
fees for a 4-year public university, or the full cost of tui-
tion and fees for a 2-year community college; nearly 17 
additional months of premiums for employer-based health 
insurance; 165 more weeks of food for her family (more 
than 3 years worth); more than 15 additional months of 
mortgage and utilities payments; 23 more months of 
rent; nearly 20 additional years of birth control; or 
enough money to pay off student loan debt in just over 
1 year; 
Whereas 25 to 85 percent of women have been sexually har-
assed at the workplace, and research has found that only 
a small number of those who experience harassment, or 
about 1 in 10, formally report incidents for reasons in-
cluding lack of access to the complaints processes and 
fear of retaliation; 
Whereas workplace harassment forces many women to leave 
their occupation or industry with targets of harassment 
being 6.5 times more likely as non-targets to change jobs 
or pass up opportunities for advancement, and this con-
tributes to the gender wage gap; 
Whereas Black women experience workplace harassment and 
discrimination at high rates. In a recent survey, 61 per-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:49 Aug 23, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC59.IH
HC59
jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
•HCON 59 IH 
cent of Black women reported experiencing racial dis-
crimination and 28 percent reported being ‘‘very worried’’ 
about sexual harassment at work and the EEOC reports 
that Black women file workplace sexual harassment com-
plaints 3 times as often as White women; 
Whereas nearly two-thirds of workers paid the minimum 
wage or less are women and there is a disproportionate 
concentration of women of color in low-wage and tipped 
jobs; 
Whereas more than 40 percent of private sector employees 
say that discussion of wage and salary information is dis-
couraged and another 25 percent report that it is for-
mally prohibited, which can hide pay discrimination and 
prevent remedies; 
Whereas the pay disparity Black women face is part of a 
wider set of disparities Black women face in homeowner-
ship, unemployment, poverty, access to child care, and 
the ability to accumulate wealth; 
Whereas in 2017 the gender wage gap widened for Black 
women; 
Whereas true pay equity requires a multi-faceted strategy 
that addresses the gendered and racial injustices that 
Black women face daily; and 
Whereas many national organizations have designated August 
22, 2019, as Black Women’s Equal Pay Day to represent 
the additional time that women must work to compensate 
for the lower wages paid to Black women last year: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:49 Aug 23, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HC59.IH
HC59
jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
•HCON 59 IH 
(1) recognizes the disparity in wages paid to 
Black women, and its impact on women, families, 
and the Nation; and 
(2) reaffirms its support for ensuring equal pay 
and closing the gender wage gap. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:49 Aug 23, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HC59.IH
HC59
jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS