Congresswoman Beatty joins President Obama for signing of latest Equal Pay Executive Order

Statement

Congresswoman Joyce Beatty will join President Barack Obama, Lilly Ledbetter and fellow Democratic women members of the U.S. House as he signs an executive order to fulfill the promise of the Lilly Ledbetter Act.

The President's executive order will ban retaliation against the employees of federal contractors for disclosing or inquiring about their wages and to implement a data collection tool to identify pay disparities in federal workplaces.

"I am pleased that President Obama took the advice that me and 55 of my colleagues provided to issue this critical executive order that will move us a step closer to equal pay in federal workplaces."

"It is a victory for women, but we still have many more hurdles in front of us. Both chambers of Congress need to take action on the Equal Pay Act to end income injustice."

"However, this is not only a women's issue, it is a family issue because the less income a woman earns is less income for families to pay rent, to buy food, and to spend on educational experiences."

"We need to understand that when women succeed, families succeed, and America succeeds," stated Congresswoman Joyce Beatty.

According to the National Partnership for Women & Families women in Ohio earn 77 cents to every dollar of their male counterparts earn and for minority women it dips even further with African American women earning only 64 cents and Hispanics 53 cents.

Women's organizations are hard at work advocating for passage of the bill as well.

"The calendar may say this is Equal Pay Day 2014, but our policies say otherwise. By refusing to update the Equal Pay Act, Congress is essentially endorsing Mad Men-era policies," said Lisa Maatz, American Association of University Women vice president of government relations and an Ohio native.

"Members of Congress who don't support the Paycheck Fairness Act - a critical update to the Equal Pay Act - are holding back women and families from making ends meet, and we won't stand for it. AAUW thanks Congresswoman Beatty for her steadfast support in the fight to close the gender pay gap," stated Maatz.

The Equal Pay Act, H.R. 377, was introduced in the U.S. House last year by Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Beatty is one of 207 co-sponsors. The legislation has been assigned to multiple sub-committees and is currently awaiting hearings in the U.S. House.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate plans vote on the Equal Pay Act this week.

"Hopefully, the Senate vote will give this legislation and issue a much needed boost for it to be passed by the House," stated Beatty.

During her first term, Congresswoman Beatty has emerged as a leader on women's issues including co-sponsoring more than 20 bills that directly affect women, including bills that would reduce violence against women and promote and fund women's health initiatives.

Beatty also sponsored a companion piece of legislation with Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio to improve response times and information regarding human trafficking.

"I plan to keep advocating on women's issues and will have an exciting announcement with the When Women Succeed, America Succeeds initiative for central Ohio in the upcoming weeks," stated Beatty.

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