Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) talks to reporters after the Senate voted against the formation of an independent commission to investigate the attack at the U.S. Capitol on May 28, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Schumer Blasts McConnell for Treating Equal Pay for Women as 'Radical'
"This is a fundamental issue of fairness," said the Democratic Senate Majority Leader.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday blasted the Republican leadership for its "radical" opposition to legislation to close the gender pay gap and strengthen workplace protections for women.
"This is a fundamental issue of fairness. And we have very simple, commonsense legislative proposal to address the issue," Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor Tuesday referencing the Paycheck Fairness Act.
The legislation, H.R. 7, passed the House in April. The Senate is set to hold a procedural vote on the measure Tuesday.
In his remarks, the New York Democrat seized upon comments Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made in the chamber Monday.
McConnell criticized Democrats' agenda for the next several weeks, which includes the paycheck fairness legislation, as being "transparently designed to fail" and centered on "the demands of their radical base."
The Paycheck Fairness Act, McConnell suggested, is merely a ruse "to send a windfall to trial attorneys" and impose "crippling new legal burdens" on employers and businesses.
Schumer shot back, saying that "the only way that a bill to provide equal pay for women is 'designed to fail' is if Senate Republicans design to block it."
"And if the Republican leader wants to talk about 'radical' positions, I'd say that opposing legislation to provide equal pay for women--supported by a solid majority of voters--is a radical position," Schumer continued.
Further proof of the GOP's "radical" positions is the party's opposition to background checks to prevent felons and the mentally ill from getting a guns and its torpedoing of a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 Capitol attack.
What's "truly radical and dangerous," added Schumer, is Republicans "passing laws that specifically make it harder for younger, poorer and non-white Americans to vote."
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday blasted the Republican leadership for its "radical" opposition to legislation to close the gender pay gap and strengthen workplace protections for women.
"This is a fundamental issue of fairness. And we have very simple, commonsense legislative proposal to address the issue," Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor Tuesday referencing the Paycheck Fairness Act.
The legislation, H.R. 7, passed the House in April. The Senate is set to hold a procedural vote on the measure Tuesday.
In his remarks, the New York Democrat seized upon comments Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made in the chamber Monday.
McConnell criticized Democrats' agenda for the next several weeks, which includes the paycheck fairness legislation, as being "transparently designed to fail" and centered on "the demands of their radical base."
The Paycheck Fairness Act, McConnell suggested, is merely a ruse "to send a windfall to trial attorneys" and impose "crippling new legal burdens" on employers and businesses.
Schumer shot back, saying that "the only way that a bill to provide equal pay for women is 'designed to fail' is if Senate Republicans design to block it."
"And if the Republican leader wants to talk about 'radical' positions, I'd say that opposing legislation to provide equal pay for women--supported by a solid majority of voters--is a radical position," Schumer continued.
Further proof of the GOP's "radical" positions is the party's opposition to background checks to prevent felons and the mentally ill from getting a guns and its torpedoing of a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 Capitol attack.
What's "truly radical and dangerous," added Schumer, is Republicans "passing laws that specifically make it harder for younger, poorer and non-white Americans to vote."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday blasted the Republican leadership for its "radical" opposition to legislation to close the gender pay gap and strengthen workplace protections for women.
"This is a fundamental issue of fairness. And we have very simple, commonsense legislative proposal to address the issue," Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor Tuesday referencing the Paycheck Fairness Act.
The legislation, H.R. 7, passed the House in April. The Senate is set to hold a procedural vote on the measure Tuesday.
In his remarks, the New York Democrat seized upon comments Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made in the chamber Monday.
McConnell criticized Democrats' agenda for the next several weeks, which includes the paycheck fairness legislation, as being "transparently designed to fail" and centered on "the demands of their radical base."
The Paycheck Fairness Act, McConnell suggested, is merely a ruse "to send a windfall to trial attorneys" and impose "crippling new legal burdens" on employers and businesses.
Schumer shot back, saying that "the only way that a bill to provide equal pay for women is 'designed to fail' is if Senate Republicans design to block it."
"And if the Republican leader wants to talk about 'radical' positions, I'd say that opposing legislation to provide equal pay for women--supported by a solid majority of voters--is a radical position," Schumer continued.
Further proof of the GOP's "radical" positions is the party's opposition to background checks to prevent felons and the mentally ill from getting a guns and its torpedoing of a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 Capitol attack.
What's "truly radical and dangerous," added Schumer, is Republicans "passing laws that specifically make it harder for younger, poorer and non-white Americans to vote."