"Barriers to equal pay and employment for women and those facing unjust discrimination must be overcome." #76 "It is important for our society to continue to combat discrimination based on race, religion, sex, ethnicity, disabling condition, or age, as these are grave injustices and affronts to human dignity. Where the effects of past discrimination persist, society has the obligation to take positive steps to overcome the legacy of injustice, including vigorous action to remove barriers to education and equal employment for women and minorities." #86 Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (November 2007)

"We believe in the essential American ideal that we are not constrained by the circumstances of birth but can make of our lives what we will. Unfortunately, for too many, that ideal is not a reality. We have more work to do. Democrats will fight to end discrimination based on race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, language, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, and disability in every corner of our country, because that's the America we believe in."

"Equal Pay Day is about the fundamental American principle that if you work hard and do a good job, you should be rewarded for your success, regardless of what you look like, where you come from, or what gender you are. And yet, many women today are still earning less than men for the same work--making it harder for single mothers to climb out of poverty, and for elderly women to retire with security." Obama Statement on Equal Pay Day (April 22, 2008) "The teenagers and college students who left their homes to march in the streets of Birmingham and Montgomery; the mothers who walked instead of taking the bus after a long day of doing somebody else's laundry and cleaning somebody else's kitchen--they didn't brave fire hoses and Billy clubs so that their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren would still wonder at the beginning of the 21st century whether their vote would be counted; whether their civil rights would be protected by their government; whether justice would be equal and opportunity would be theirs. . . . We have more work to do." Barack Obama, Speech at Howard University, September 28, 2007