(Washington,
D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following
statement following the Senate vote on S. 3772, the Paycheck Fairness Act. The
bill needed 60 votes to proceed and failed on a 58-41 vote. Murray is a
co-sponsor of the bill and voted for it to proceed.
“I
am extremely disappointed that Senate Republicans blocked this common-sense
legislation to close the pay gap and help women and families in Washington
state and across the country.
“This
issue shouldn’t be controversial, and it shouldn’t be political: it should be
about right and wrong. And it’s simply wrong that women only earn 77 cents for
every dollar paid to men, and that so many women doing the same job as men are
earning significantly less.
“Despite
years of progress, our country has still not yet completely eliminated
discrimination and unfairness in the workplace. There have been improvements,
but we are still not yet at the point where our daughters can expect to be paid
as equitably and fairly as our sons. This wage gap extends far beyond a
paycheck—it affects a family’s income and their ability to build a secure
retirement. And that has got to change.
“That’s why I was so proud to
co-sponsor the Paycheck Fairness Act, which gives America’s working women
additional support to fight for equal pay. It takes critical steps to
empower women to negotiate for equal pay, closes loopholes that courts have
created in the law, creates strong incentives for employers to obey the laws
that are in place, and strengthens federal outreach and enforcement efforts.
“The Paycheck Fairness Act is an
important and essential step in the long march to end discrimination in
America, and I am going to keep fighting for its passage.”
English 
Spanish