Below are excerpts from NOW communication:
Last Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (H.R. 11) and the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 12) by a vote of 247-171 and 256-163 respectively. A good start for the 111th Congress and women’s rights supporters.
After the House vote on Jan. 9, the two bills were then bundled together into one bill, H.R. 11, and sent to the Senate. There could be a vote on the bundled bill or on the two Senate bills as early as THIS week.
Senators Ted Kennedy and Barbara Mikulski have introduced the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (S. 181) and Senator Hillary Clinton has introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 182), and we need an overwhelming number of sponsors and supporters for both bills. We hope that the Senate will vote for the House bill (H.R. 11) in its entirety. Failing that, we want a Senate vote on both of the bills at the same time without fear of a filibuster for either bill. That means we need 60 votes!Background:
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act both passed in the House in the last Congress, but Senate Republicans at the time filibustered their version of the Ledbetter bill which prevented a vote in the Senate. Time ran out in the 110th Congress, and the Paycheck Fairness Act was not discussed last year. Now that both bills have been passed by the U.S. House again, we must call on the Senate to demonstrate equal support for these women’s policy initiatives.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has promised to hold a vote for “Ledbetter” as one of his first items on the agenda. We need to build a groundswell of support so he has the 60 votes necessary to break a filibuster and proceed to a vote on the bills. The bills can then be passed with a simple majority vote.
This bill could come up for a Senate vote this week. Please take action to let your senators know that America expects them to support this bill.
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