i rise to give voice to the fact that there is paycheck inequality for hardworking american women across this country and that it is time that we do something about it. working women make over -- make up over 50% of our work force and they're working harder than ever to get ahead. and they deserve to get ahead. but many are working full time and many are working two jobs to make ends meet. yet far too many are barely getting by and far too many women and children are living in poverty. the least we can do is level the playing field and give women a fair shot at getting ahead because they deserve equal pay for equal work. it's simply unfair that women are paid on average 77 cents for every dollar paid to a man. this reality is holding women back and it's holding our entire economy back. i am proud to join my colleagues today to deliver a call for action to pass the paycheck fairness act and give women equal pay for equal work. this legislation will help close the paycheck gap for women. it will help create upward mobility for women and it will help strengthen the economic security of mill

i rise to give voice to the fact that there is paycheck inequality for hardworking american women across this country and that it is time that we do something about it. working women make over -- make up over 50% of our work force and they're working harder than ever to get ahead. and they deserve to get ahead. but many are working full time and many are working two jobs to make ends meet. yet far too many are barely getting by and far too many women and children are living in poverty. the least we can do is level the playing field and give women a fair shot at getting ahead because they deserve equal pay for equal work. it's simply unfair that women are paid on average 77 cents for every dollar paid to a man. this reality is holding women back and it's holding our entire economy back. i am proud to join my colleagues today to deliver a call for action to pass the paycheck fairness act and give women equal pay for equal work. this legislation will help close the paycheck gap for women. it will help create upward mobility for women and it will help strengthen the economic security of mill

american workers. freezing pay and cutting benefits and demoralizing our hardworking men and women in government. republican leadership has opposed equal pay for women. they've opposed raising the minimum wage. they've opposed employee nondiscrimination legislation. in fact, they won't even bring some of those bills for a vote. and as we struggle to recover from the worst economic downturn since the great depression, republican leadership has refused to extend emergency unemployment benefits to the long-term unemployed. many of whom use that money just to put food on their table while they search for work. now, the republican majority has the audacity to put forward a bill they call the save the american worker act. we got to save the american worker from you. that's who we need to be saving them from. the bill before us today -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. rangel: i yield an additional minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for an additional minute. mr. lynch: i thank the gentleman. i thank the speaker for his indulgence. the bill before u

women. as was the case then, today we must act to raise the minimum wage to ensure that hardworking americans get a fair shot at success. i urge my colleagues to join me on both sides of the aisle in supporting the fair minimum wage act. thank you, madam president. mrs. boxer: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: madam president, it is my honor to rise today to support this very important bill, the minimum wage fairness act of 2014. i am very proud of my colleagues who have just spoken. and particularly i want to say of senator shaheen, who as i understand it is the only woman here in the senate who was both a governor and a senator, is that correct? and when she was a governor, she stood up for the people, and as a senator, she certainly fights for her people. and part of this fight involves making sure that when you work hard and you work full time, you don't have to live in poverty. it just isn't fair. remember, most of the people on the minimum wage are adults. they're not children. they're not teenagers. they're adults. and so many of them are

women. these are good, hardworking americans, but they may lose their hours or even their jobs thanks to obamacare. wasn't this law supposed to help people get health insurance? but what are they getting? they're get nothing insurance and less pay. incredible. incredible. i want to thank my colleague and my good friend, mr. young, for introducing this important bill and urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bipartisan solution that will help workers keep their jobs and higher wages. madam speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arkansas reserves. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. levin: i yield myself such time as i shall consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. levin: the gentleman who has just spoken has it backwards. what would hurt american workers is not the affordable care act. millions have signed up to be covered. what would hurt american workers is this bill. i said yesterday, and no one has refuted, this bill would mean that a million people, a million people, according to c.b.o., would lose

women and over half have a high school diploma or less. now when i look back at my district, district three, ennsylvania, hardworking american people, i have no idea how they're reg sterd, i have no idea how they vote, i have no idea what they think about at night and what they pray for at night before they lay their head on the pillow but i know who they are because they are all of the same ilk, the same people, the blood that courses through their veins is the same they believe in america they believe in paying their fair share they believe in lifting the load and helping out. arb wilson works in an organization that assists people with developmental disabilities. she is a part-time employee who used to work 30 to 35 hours a week. her employer informed her that all part-time employees will have their hours cut to around 20 hours a week because of the employer mandate. she said she was shocked when she heard this news and because of her hours being cut she said she'll no longer be able to afford the cost of living. i have many people in my district that come to me and talk to me. one of the things, and i think you'll find the same back in

women in this country but men as well, by growing the economy, expanding the economy, creating the types of jobs, good-paying jobs that will create opportunities for advancement for hardworking americans. but if we're going to continue -- if the senato the ss going to continue to be a place where debate and amendments are shut down, blocked by the other side simply so they can have show votes that are designed to appeal to a political audience as we head into the midterm elections, we aren't going to be doing anything to solve the real-world problems that millions of americans who are unemployed have or millions of americans who have been hurt by this economy and millions of americans who have seen their standard of living and their quality of life eroded by bad policies coming out of washington, d.c., that make it more difficult and more expensive to create jobs. that's what we ought to be focused on. republicans come to the floor, as we did last week when we were debating unemployment insurance, with amendments designed specifically at growing the economy and creating jobs and at every turn we've been blocked from offering those amendments. and, in turn, we're talking about nothing

what about equality for hardworking american women? yet the republicans in congress who carry waut -- water for the kochs are campaigning against legislation that ensure women are paid equally as their e-mail e-mail -- as their male counters for doing the same work. i have a daughter and four sons. my daughter, if she does the same work as any of my boys, should be paid the same as they are. but that isn't how it is in america. she's paid only 76 cents or 77 cents a dollar for what a man doing the same work gets. one of the kochs' organizations ironically called independent women's forum, they do this all the time. they funnel money through the chamber of commerce, many other organizations. but one of their organizations called independent women's forum is making the argument that the disparity between men's and women's salaries is a myth. but this tactic shouldn't surprise anyone given republicans utter disregard for women that's on display here in washington. we're going to vote on wednesday on fair pay piece of legislation, simply s