Reid says Democrats will continue fight for equal pay for women

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday that fair pay for women will continue to be a top priority for Senate Democrats during this Congress.

“Women make up nearly half of the American workforce,” Reid said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “Yet women bring home 77 cent for every dollar their male colleagues earn. ... It’s unfair.”

Reid highlighted the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which was the first bill President Obama signed into law nearly four years ago, but added that it isn’t enough because women are still not earning the same wages as men. 

That’s why he said he is excited about Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s (D-Md.) Paycheck Fairness Act, which he said would allow women to negotiate for equal pay with their employers. 

“It’s simply not fair that any woman working the same hours and the same job does not get the same pay as a man,” Reid said.

The majority leader also pointed out that there are more women serving in the 113th Congress than ever before and that most are serving in the Democratic Party.

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