Today, Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), Chairman of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), released the following statement on Equal Pay Day, March 24—the day through which the typical woman would have had to work to earn what the typical man earned the previous year.

In 2019 (the most recent data), the typical woman working full-time, year-round earned 82.3% of what her male counterpart earned (a pay gap of nearly 18%). The gender wage gap is even worse for women of color. On average, Black women earned just 63 cents, Native American women 60 cents and Latinas 55 cents for every dollar a white, non-Hispanic man earned.

“The gender wage gap can cost women hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of a career. It hurts the nation since the hundreds of billions of dollars in lost wages are also lost GDP. If long-term economic growth is our goal, then closing the gender wage gap is not just a moral imperative, it is an economic one in a nation where two-thirds of mothers are either the primary breadwinner or co-breadwinner in their families.

“It is long past time that Congress pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which House Democrats are moving forward in committee today. By closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Paycheck Fairness Act would make it easier for women to challenge pay discrimination, bringing our nation one step closer to ensuring that women receive equal pay for equal work.”

The Paycheck Fairness Act bans retaliation against workers who voluntarily discuss or disclose their wages, provides effective remedies for women who are not being paid equal pay for equal work, and requires employers to prove that pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related reasons.

Last week, the JEC Democrats released a Women’s History Month chart pack, which includes charts for Equal Pay Day, as well as others about the economic status of women.

Today, Democrats on the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC)–Chairman-designate Don Beyer (D-VA), Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA)—sent a letter to the Biden-Harris Administration urging them to develop a plan for sharing surplus coronavirus vaccine doses equitably with low- and middle-income countries, specifically a plan that includes donating the surplus doses to the World Health Organization’s COVAX initiative.

While the Biden-Harris Administration’s first priority must be ensuring that all people in the United States who want a vaccine are able to get one as quickly as possible, helping to ensure that those who live in low- and middle-income countries are able to do the same will not only prevent COVID variants from spreading to the United States and other countries, it will also prevent the loss of trillions of dollars to the global economy.

The United States has secured 1.3 billion doses of vaccine, enough to vaccinate 750 million people—more than twice the U.S population. For every $1 spent on supplying vaccines to low-income countries, high-income countries would see a return of $4.80, according to one estimate.

JEC Democrats:

“As of March 8, 2021, high-income countries had purchased 63 percent of the total COVID-19 vaccines that had been purchased worldwide, despite representing only 16 percent of the world’s population. Meanwhile, low- and middle-income countries lag far behind, securing only 37 percent of vaccine despite representing 84 percent of the world’s population.

“This disparity in vaccine access can have profound humanitarian costs. It also threatens global pandemic recovery efforts. The longer it takes for all countries to vaccinate their populations, the more variants will emerge. [And] if governments do not ensure low- and middle-income countries have equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, the global economy could lose $1.2 trillion a year.”

Full text of the letter is here and below:

March 15, 2021

Jeffrey Zients
Response Coordinator
White House Coronavirus Task Force
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. Zients,

We applaud the Administration’s decision to donate surplus doses to low- and middle-income countries that lack access to COVID-19 vaccines. We write to you today to urge the Administration to develop a plan for donating those surplus doses equitably that includes working through the COVAX initiative. This not only will serve a humanitarian purpose by saving lives worldwide, but it is essential for protecting Americans from the possible proliferation of COVID variants as the virus continues to spread.

The United States has secured 1.3 billion doses of vaccine, enough to vaccinate 750 million people—more than twice the U.S population. We recognize that the Biden Administration’s first priority is to ensure that all people in the United States who want a vaccine are able to get one as quickly as possible. The Administration is making good progress on meeting this objective. As of March 11, 2021, over 98.2 million doses have been administered, and 10 percent of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, while 19 percent have received at least one dose. The President projects that the United States will have enough vaccine to immunize all American adults by the end of May.

The story is vastly different across the low- and middle-income world, where only a small fraction of people has been vaccinated. This is largely due to profound disparities in the number of vaccines purchased by high-income countries and the rest of the world. As of March 8, 2021, high-income countries had purchased 63 percent of the total COVID-19 vaccines that had been purchased worldwide, despite representing only 16 percent of the world’s population. Meanwhile, low- and middle-income countries lag far behind, securing only 37 percent of vaccine despite representing 84 percent of the world’s population.

This disparity in vaccine access can have profound humanitarian costs. It also threatens global pandemic recovery efforts. As emphasized by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, “if the virus is allowed to spread like wildfire in the global South, it will mutate again and again…prolong[ing] the pandemic significantly, enabling the virus to come back to plague the global North.” The longer it takes for all countries to vaccinate their populations, the more variants will emerge.

Inequitable global vaccination efforts will also negatively impact the economy. If governments do not ensure low- and middle-income countries have equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, the global economy could lose $1.2 trillion a year. For every $1 spent on supplying vaccines to low-income countries, high-income countries would see a return of $4.80, according to one estimate.

We recognize and applaud the Administration’s efforts to date to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines in low- and middle-income countries, in particular the $4 billion contributed to COVAX. To stave off further loss of life and suffering and end this pandemic for good, more must be done to ensure the battle against COVID-19 is won globally.

For these reasons, we believe it is imperative that the Administration begin to chart its plan for donating surplus vaccine supply to low- and middle-income countries. To ensure equitable distribution of the surplus doses to the countries that need it most, we strongly recommend that the Administration’s plan include donating the surplus vaccine to COVAX.

As your partners in Congress, we look forward to working with you and the rest of the Biden Administration to ensure national and global pandemic recovery efforts are as equitable and effective as possible.

Sincerely, 

Don Beyer
Chairman-designate, Joint Economic Committee
Member of Congress

Mark Pocan
Member of Congress

Scott Peters
Member of Congress

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), who is expected to chair Congress’ Joint Economic Committee in the 117^th Congress, voted for the American Rescue Plan today. Shortly before casting his vote for the sweeping Covid relief legislation, which will soon head to President Biden for signature, Beyer told his colleagues during Floor debate: “my vote today for the American Rescue Plan will be the most consequential vote I have ever cast as a member of the House.”

Beyer’s full remarks during debate are below.

The American Rescue Plan is $1.9T pandemic relief legislation that will put money in Americans’ pockets, bolster a national vaccination strategy, support the needy, hungry, and unemployed, provide funding for state and local governments on the frontlines of the pandemic to protect the jobs of teachers and first responders, sustain jobs and small businesses, and fund the safe reopening of America’s schools.

Text of the bill is available here.

Rep. Beyer’s remarks as delivered:

“Mister Speaker, my vote today for the American Rescue Plan will be the most consequential vote I have ever cast.

Today we show that democracy works.

Today we make available all the resources needed to end the pandemic that has killed 527,000 Americans.

Today we lift millions of American children out of poverty.

Today we make an investment to get our children back to school safely.

Today we authorize economic impact payments to millions of our citizens behind on their rents and car payments and unable to buy groceries.

Today we extend unemployment insurance for the ten percent of Americans still out of work because of the virus.

Today we send national help to the state and local governments who employ the heroes who provide our quality of life: police, firefighters, teachers, child protective service workers, sanitation workers, and many others.

And today we reject the social Darwinism of our Republican friends. We reject the ethic of every man, woman, and child for themselves.

Mister Speaker, I am proud to vote for this bill today, and I yield back.”