Blackburn: GOP ‘Led The Fight For Women’s Equality’ (VIDEO)

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Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Sunday insisted that even though Republican Senators blocked the Democrats’ equal pay bill last week, her party is fighting for women’s rights.

“I find this war on women rhetoric just almost silly,” she said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” when asked if Republicans opposed equal pay for women. “It is Republicans that have led the fight for women’s equality. Go back through history, and look at who was the first woman to ever vote, elected to office, go to Congress, four out of five governors.”

When asked why she opposed the most recent equal pay legislation specifically, Blackburn said the bill would merely increase litigation, the line that most Republicans have been touting.

“The legislation was something that was going to be helpful for trial lawyers, and what we would like to see happen is equal opportunity and clearing up some of the problems that exist that are not fair to women,” she said. “We’re all for equal pay.”

As the Huffington Post noted, Blackburn voted against the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009.

Blackburn argued that Republicans would like to focus on female small business owners and access to capital for women, rather than pass equal pay legislation. And she then criticized the Obama administration’s gender wage gap, citing a January study by the American Enterprise Institute.

“By the way, the White House paying women 88 cents for every dollar that a guy earns for comparable positions,” she said. “They need to go clean up their own act first.”

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney last week defended the administration’s pay gap, stating that it’s better than the national average.

Watch the video via Raw Story:

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