DNC Chair Slams Romney On Equal Pay Day

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DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz released a statement commemorating Equal Pay Day on Tuesday, and slammed Romney and Republicans over their failure to support the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and other initiatives.

Equal pay has become something of a campaign issue in the last week as Mitt Romney hasn’t taken a hard stance on the Lilly Ledbetter Act that President Obama signed in 2009. In an ABC News interview that aired Monday, Romney reiterated that he would not take a position on whether he would have signed the legislation, but did say he had no intention of repealing it. Romney recently expressed support for embattled Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who repealed his state’s fair pay law. 

Wasserman Schultz hit on both those points in her statement Tuesday:

“President Obama and Democrats understand that equal pay is so important for women and their families that one of the first pieces of legislation Democrats passed in 2009 and the first bill the President signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.  The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act ensures that women can fight for equal pay for equal work, and on National Equal Pay Day we celebrate our continued fight for economic equality, regardless of gender.

“The President’s commitment to women is in stark contrast to Mitt Romney and the GOP’s attitude toward equal pay for women.  While Democrats and the President were making equal pay for equal work a priority, nearly every Republican in the House and Senate voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who Mitt Romney has called a ‘hero,’ recently repealed that state’s fair pay law; and Mitt Romney refuses to say if he would have signed Lilly Ledbetter had he been president at the time. His campaign on a conference call last week couldn’t even articulate a response when asked his position on the law.  

“On Equal Pay Day women can rest assured that Democrats and President Obama will continue the fight for equal pay for equal work and will fight for their right to make health care choices for themselves and their families.  It’s a shame that Mitt Romney and Republicans can’t say the same thing.”

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