Proclamation: National Equal Pay Day, 1999

      THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
                                         April 7, 1999


NATIONAL EQUAL PAY DAY, 1999



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION


        We live in a time of remarkable promise. Our Nation's economy is
the strongest we have experienced in a generation, creating more than 18
million new jobs since 1993 and the fastest growth in real wages in more
than two decades. American women have contributed greatly to this record
of success; unfortunately, they have not enjoyed an equal share in the
prosperity they have helped to create.

        The typical woman who works full-time year-round earns
approximately 75 cents for every dollar the typical man earns. An African
American woman earns just 65 cents and a Hispanic woman earns 55 cents for
each dollar that a white man earns.   In the course of a week, this pay gap
can mean one less bag of groceries, skipping a trip to the doctor, missing
a rent payment, or not being able to pay for day care. Over the course of
a working lifetime, it can mean thousands of dollars, a smaller pension,
and fewer savings to provide for a comfortable retire-ment. And when a
working woman is denied equal pay, it doesn't just hurt her; it also hurts
her family.   In more than 10 million American households today, the mother
is the only breadwinner.

        Americans have always believed in justice and equality. We have
always believed that those who work hard should be able to provide a
decent living for themselves and their children.  If we are to live up to
those ideals, we must ensure that women do not suffer wage
discrimination. We must continue vigorous enforcement of existing laws,
such as the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, so that
no employer under-values or underpays the work performed by women.   To
strengthen Department of Labor and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
efforts to end wage discrimination and expand opportunities in the
workplace for women, my Administration has included a $14 million Equal
Pay Initiative in my proposed balanced budget for fiscal year 2000. This
initiative will provide more resources to identify wage discrimination, to
educate workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities, and
to bring more women into better-paying jobs. We will also work with the
Congress to pass the proposed Paycheck Fairness Act -- legislation
designed to strengthen laws that prohibit wage discrimination.

        As we observe National Equal Pay Day, let us reaffirm our
commitment to justice and equality in the workplace, and let us build a
Nation for the 21st century where the talents, efforts, and hard work of
American women will be rightly appreciated and fairly rewarded.

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        NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United
States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the
Constitution and laws of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim
April 8, 1999, as National Equal Pay Day.  I call upon Government
officials, law enforcement agencies, business leaders, educators, and the
American people to recog-nize the full value of the skills and
contributions of women in the labor force.  I urge all employers to review
tneir wage practices and to ensure that all their employees are paid
equitably for their work.

        IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and
ninety-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the
two hundred and twenty-third.



                                                       WILLIAM J. CLINTON



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