Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Equal Pay Day. Equal Pay Day brings awareness to the issue of disparate pay for women and families, and promotes the fair principles of equal pay for equal work.
As a Member of Congress, I am proud to say that I am an original cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, an important piece of legislation that hopes to limit sex discrimination in the payment of wages. Nationally, women earn roughly 77 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. This wage gap varies widely throughout various states across the country. For single parents and other heads of households, wage inequality can have lasting ramifications on quality of life and economic prosperity. Earning less money for the same time investment is not only unfair, it undermines a robust labor force and eats away at the foundation of a strong and prosperous economy. It is an issue that afflicts every community across our Nation.
In the Dallas Metroplex, women are paid 85 cents for every dollar paid to men, or $7,163 less per year for a typical full-time job. According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, women in the Dallas area lose more than $7 billion each year due to these blatant disparities in pay.
Mr. Speaker, we owe it to the American people to ensure that all workers are being paid fair and equitable wages for their labor. The Equal Pay and Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Acts were steps taken in the right direction. Now, we must pass the Paycheck Fairness Act to continue our assault on pay inequality, and ensure that women across the country have access to fair wages.