Washington, DC - The House of Representatives today passed the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation to help put an end to the discriminatory practice of paying a woman less than a man for performing the same job.  Fifth District Congresswoman Niki Tsongas is a cosponsor of both measures and spoke in favor of the legislation on the House floor this morning. The following is a transcript of her remarks.  A video of her remarks can be seen here.

"Madame Speaker, I rise to express my strong support for two important bills that we will consider later today. 

I am an original cosponsor of both the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act, which both advance the fight to ensure equal pay for women in the work force. 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women make 78 cents for every dollar earned for similar work by their male counterparts. 

This form of discrimination is unacceptable and is not just a women's issue; it is a family issue.  Pay discrimination diminishes family earnings and falls particularly hard on single income households headed by a woman. 

The Institute of Women's Policy Research found that this wage disparity will cost an individual woman anywhere from $400,000 to $2 million over a lifetime in lost wages.  We can easily imagine the impact on a woman's life as well as her children's. 

At a time when families across this country are struggling to make ends meet, this inequity, always egregious is particularly harmful.

The measures we consider today move to end this harmful and discriminatory practice, and build on the protections established in landmark legislation such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

The Paycheck Fairness Act requires employers to justify unequal pay by proving that their actions are job-related and consistent with a business necessity and allows women to sue employers for damages stemming from unequal pay - providing a meaningful deterrent to this discriminatory practice.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act restores the remedies of those who face gender based pay discrimination in the wake of the Supreme Court's deeply flawed decision. 

I am proud to support these important measures which take necessary steps towards making the American promise of opportunity more accessible to women." 

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