WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Lois Capps’s comments as prepared for delivery on legislation to rectify the recent Supreme Court decision endorsing pay discrimination.

 I would like to thank Lilly Ledbetter for her courage in fighting this injustice.  And thank my colleagues: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC), Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman, House Education and Labor Committee, Rep. Robert E. Andrews (D-NJ), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL), Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) for their leadership on this issue.

 I want to second what my colleagues have said here today, and on behalf of the Democratic Women’s Working Group lend our strong support to this much needed legislation.

 We are all deeply disappointed with the recent Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear.  Women, on average, are paid less than their male counterparts.  Unless you can look me in the eye and say that women are less intelligent and less capable than their male counterparts in the same fields, the most glaring explanation for this discrepancy is discrimination.

 We have made great strides in working to equalize wages for all Americans, regardless of gender, race, or age.  But the Supreme Court’s decision to limit a victim’s options in the face of discrimination is a set-back to all our civil rights and reminds us of how much further we have to go.

 I urge my colleagues to support this legislative fix to preserve a worker’s right to be compensated for discrimination.  I am confident that we will be able to move forward quickly to correct the law so that this misinterpretation will never occur again.

###

Pictured above: (center) Congresswoman Capps meets with Central Coast firefighters to discuss emergency preparedness.