Urging the United States Soccer Federation to Immediately Eliminate Gender Pay Inequity

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I am delighted to be here today with the senior Senator from Maryland, a longtime champion for women in this country and their access to equal pay, because in our country, women in the workplace--no matter where they live, no matter their background, no matter what career they choose--on average earn less than their male colleagues. That wage gap even exists and extends to Olympic gold medalists and World Cup champions who are playing for our U.S. women's national soccer team.

Today we are on the floor to show support for the women's national soccer team and to affirm the sense of the Senate that we support equal pay for equal work for all women in our country.

Just last year we all cheered on the women's national soccer team as they beat Japan 5 to 2 to win the World Cup. In the past three Olympics, our women's team has brought home the gold, and their team is ranked first in the world.

But despite all of those tremendous successes, these players do not get paid on par with their male counterparts. Think about the young girls who are watching who see these players at the top of their game valued less than men. These are some of the most visible athletes in the world.

In 2015, 750 million people in the world tuned in to watch the Women's World Cup. Twenty-five million of those viewers were here in the United States. So this isn't just about the money. It is about the message it sends to women and girls across our country and the world.

The pay gap between the men's and the women's national soccer teams is emblematic of what is happening across our country. On average, women get paid just 79 cents for every dollar a man makes. This is at a time when women more than ever are likely to be the primary breadwinner of their family. The wage gap isn't just unfair to women. It hurts our families, and it hurts our economy.

Carli Lloyd is a cocaptain of the U.S. women's national soccer team. Last year she scored three of the five goals in the final World Cup match. A few months ago, she was one of the players who filed a wage discrimination case with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Shortly after the news of that have case broke, Carli Lloyd said: ``We are not backing down anymore.''

I know my Democratic colleagues won't back down in the fight for equal pay, but on the Senate floor today, we have a chance to show our support for women athletes and women in the workforce who get paid less than their male colleagues.

Two weeks ago, I, along with 21 of my colleagues, introduced S. Res. 462 to make clear that pay discrimination is wrong. This resolution urges U.S. Soccer to end pay disparities and treat all athletes with respect and with dignity, and it expresses our strong support to end the pay gap and strengthen equal pay protections.

We are here to give the Senate the opportunity to take a stand with the members of the U.S. Soccer women's team against the pay gap and wage discrimination and to support this legislation.

I will offer the resolution in just a minute, but before I do, I turn the floor over to my senior colleague. I hope that once this resolution is adopted, if we can get it adopted, we can support the equal pay for equal work that she has championed for so many years.

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Mrs. MURRAY. Res. 462 and the Senate proceed to its consideration.

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I know of no further debate at this time on this resolution and ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to vote on adoption of the resolution.
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