IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 2831, THE LILLY LEDBETTER FAIR PAY ACT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia: Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.

I rise in support of H.R. 2831, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This important legislation overturns the recent Supreme Court decision, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire, a decision which undermines title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Ledbetter decision forces victims of discriminatory pay decisions to live with discriminatory paychecks for the duration of their career if they fail to file a claim within 180 days of the discrimination, possibly even if they had no knowledge of the discrimination within the 180 days. In other words, after 180 days, an unsuspecting female, minority, elderly, or disabled worker would simply be out of luck.

This would even be the case if the employer admitted to the discrimination and continued to discriminate after the 180-day limitation had passed.

Mr. Speaker, we hear comments that there would be no statute of limitations. That is not true. Under the bill, there is still a statute of limitations; 180 days still applies. The plaintiff has to show that a discriminatory paycheck was issued within the last 180 days. And if the employer would simply stop discriminating and went a whole 180 days without discriminating, then the statute of limitations would apply and it would be too late to bring a case.

Under the Supreme Court decision, that unjust outcome under the case is not in keeping with title VII's remedial purpose or the spirit of the civil rights cases.

Now, Justice Ginsburg noted in her dissent, ``Congress never intended to immunize forever discriminatory pay differentials unchallenged within 180 days of their adoption.'' I agree with Justice Ginsburg. And she also noted that Congress should correct this injustice. This bill corrects the injustice by appropriately expressing Congress's intent that title VII will hold employers accountable for unlawful employment discrimination.