Women

I helped lead the fight to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). This important legislation reauthorized VAWA programs and added new provisions that improve campus safety, provide for audits of untested rape kits to give law enforcement the tools they need to reduce the backlog of rape kits, and reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act to aid trafficking victims with resources and support services.

In addition, I have led the charge in Congress to make sure that trafficking victims are treated as victims—not as criminals, and to close loopholes in the criminal code that allow traffickers and buyers to escape punishment. Specifically, I worked with my colleagues across the aisle to introduce the End Sex Trafficking Act, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (which passed the House by a vote of 409-0). I also joined with my colleagues to introduce a resolution expressing once and for all that Our Daughters Are Not For Sale. 

Legislation I cosponsored on Economic Issues: 

Cosponsor of H.R. 377, the Paycheck Fairness Act. This bill would help close the wage gap between men and women by eliminating loopholes that allow pay discrimination to continue. The Paycheck Fairness Act builds upon the landmark 1963 Equal Pay Act to help fulfill the intended objective of ensuring that women are paid the same amount for equal work. Specifically, it prohibits employer retaliation for sharing salary information with coworkers and strengthens remedies for pay discrimination by increasing compensation women can seek (allows them to seek both back pay and punitive damages). Lastly, the bill creates a grant program for women to strengthen salary negotiation and other workplace skills, and requires the Department of Labor to enhance outreach and training efforts to eliminate pay disparities.

Cosponsor of H.R. 1010, the Fair Minimum Wage Act. This bill would raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour by 2015 (using three steps of 95 cents), then provide for automatic annual increases linked to changes in the cost of living. The bill would also gradually raise the minimum wage for tipped workers—which currently stands at just $2.13 an hour—for the first time in more than 20 years, to 70 percent of the regular minimum wage ($7). More than half of the 30 million Americans who would get a raise under this bill are women.

Cosponsor of H.R. 3740, the Child Care Access and Refundability Expansion Act. This bill helps parents offset care costs associated with child care by making the tax credit associated with dependent care expenses refundable. The bill also indexes the income threshold and credit rate to inflation, which ensures that middle-class families would qualify for more of the credit to help them afford the cost of child care.

Cosponsor of H.R. 1286, the Healthy Families Act. This bill would require employers with more than 15 employees to allow employees to accrue at least 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked (equals a minimum of about 7 days per year). Paid sick days are a matter of public health and employment safety, but they’re especially important for mothers who are responsible for caring for themselves as well as sick children or family.

Cosponsor of H.R. 1975, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. This bill make it unlawful for an employer to refuse to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers or to deny employment opportunities based on a pregnant condition.

Cosponsor of H.J. Res 56, the Equal Rights Amendment Act. This bill proposes a constitutional amendment that declares that women shall have equal rights in the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction. It prohibits the United States or any state from denying or abridging equal rights under the law on account of sex.