Equal Pay Act of 1963
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is a United States labor law amending the Fair Labor Standards Act, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex (see Gender pay gap). It was signed into law on June 10, 1963, by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program. In passing the bill, Congress stated that sex discrimination:The law provides (in part) that:
Edith Green
Green is probably most noted for her work helping to develop the legislation that was to become Title IX, now-called the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act. The law prohibited sex discrimination in federally funded educational institutions. In the late 1960s, after noting that while programs existed to keep boys in school but no similar programs existed for girls, Green sought to correct this inequality. She helped to introduce a higher education bill that contained provisions regarding gender equity in education. The hearings on this bill, working together with fellow Representative Patsy Mink and Senator Birch Bayh, eventually resulted in the passage of Title IX in 1972. In addition Green was fundamental in introducing and penning the successful Equal Pay Act of 1963 and in the following year, she was the only woman in the House of Representatives who voted against including sex in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, saying that it was neither the time nor the place for addressing discrimination on the basis of sex in employment.