Washington, DC - Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) released the following statement upon the signing of two executive actions by President Obama to ensure that companies awarded federal contracts are not able to discriminateagainst their workers based on their gender, race or ethnicity.

"As we recognize Equal Pay Day, I'm very pleased that President Obama is taking real steps to ensure fairness and economic opportunity for federal contractor employees. The use of taxpayer money for pay discrimination is simply unacceptable. I fully support all efforts to better identify pay discrimination and to provide women and minority workers the necessary protection so they can talk about their salaries without fear of retaliation by their employers.

"But there is much more work to do. Equal work deserves equal pay regardless of where someone works. I urge my Republican colleagues in the Senate to stop opposing this worthy goal and help us pass the Paycheck Fairness Act this week so that all workers, in all fields, are compensated based on their labor, not their gender, age or ethnicity."

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