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Let's -- if you give the people the entire argument, which I don't the analysis supports -- but if you did, what does that mean? It means that an important part of the equal pay battle should be strengthening the Family and Medical Leave Law, for example -- something I've been trying to do, without success, ever since we signed the first -- it ought to apply to more companies, it ought to be more extensive, it ought to cover more situations. You know, we've proved that we can do this without hurting the economy. And if you believe -- I mean, you know, if you believe that having children is a significant factor here, and if you believe, as I do, that's the most important work of any society, then why shouldn't we continue with something that's done so much good -- this family leave law -- to find other ways to do it, to find other incentives for flex time, just all kinds of things we could be doing if this is a problem?
Now finally, let me say -- let's talk a little bit about what I think we can do about this right now. Earlier this year I asked Congress to pass two measures to strengthen our wage discrimination laws and to boost enforcement of existing ones. I ask Congress again to pass the $14 million equal pay initiative that's in our balanced budget, to help the EEOC identify and respond to wage discrimination; to educate employers and workers about their rights and responsibilities -- you'll hear some pretty impressive people talk about that on our panel in a moment; and to help bring more women into better paying jobs.
Again, I ask the Congress to pass the Pay Check Fairness Act, sponsored by Senator Daschle and Congresswoman DeLauro, which would put employers on notice that wage discrimination against women is just as unacceptable as discrimination based on race or ethnicity. Under current law, those who are denied equal pay because of race can seek compensatary (sic) -- compensatory and punitive da ng for EEOC workers, strengthe
