WATCH: Rep. Mikie Sherrill Receives Standing Ovation after Delivering Final Floor Speech on Equal Pay Bill

Washington, DC – Last night, in front of the entire House of Representatives, Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) received a standing ovation after delivering the final floor speech on the landmark Paycheck Fairness Act (HR 7), which strengthens and closes loopholes in the 1963 Equal Pay Act. The equal pay legislation passed 242-187, with seven Republicans joining Democrats in support of the bill.

Full Transcript Below: 

There are few things that define us as a country more distinctly than the idea of the American Dream.  The idea that anyone can make it here through hard work and dedication. And that dream rests on giving people here a fair shot.

Right now, too many people in this country just aren’t getting a fair shot. And women in this country face additional barriers because they are simply not paid equally for their work.

Madame Speaker, this bill, HR 7, supports paycheck fairness because equal pay for equal work is about respect. And in New Jersey, we know respect.

I know what paycheck fairness looks like because we just passed it in New Jersey. It’s high time that Congress ensures these common sense values for the rest of the women across this country.

I’ve listened to the objections raised today, that women already have protections for equal play. Well let me assure you that the protections in our law are not adequate.

I rise today, Madame Speaker, for women who are earning just 80 cents on the dollar.

I rise for African American women are only earning 61 cents on the dollar.

I rise today for Hispanic women who are only earning 53 cents on the dollar.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today for American women, and for their families, so we can give them a fair shot.

Like the woman in my district who, despite being a single mom helping to pay off her children’s college debt, was passed over for a raise because her male co-worker “had a family to support.”

Or another who found that she was being paid less than her male co-workers after years of performing the same job with the same seniority.

Madame Speaker, I am fighting to make sure that my two daughters have the same opportunities, and the same rights, as my two sons.

And in the House of Representatives, we know what our co-workers are making. We can look it up. We need our constituents to have that same opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, I have joined my colleagues on the other side of the aisle in the past on their motions. I believe deeply in the need for this body to come together today to focus on the issues that matter to our families. And it is time for my colleagues to now join me, because supporting women, supporting families, supporting the American Dream, is a shared value.

I know in New Jersey, the equal pay bill passed with broad bipartisan support. In fact, in the entire state Senate and Assembly, only two people voted against it.

If there was ever a moment, if there was ever a bill, if there was ever a time to put obstruction aside, it is now. This motion put forth has nothing to do with equal pay, and I urge my colleagues to reject it.

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