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EEOC Vice Chair Jocelyn Samuels urges immediate action on 60th anniversary of Equal Pay Act
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Summary
Jocelyn Samuels, vice chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, marked the 60th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, recounted three decades of advocacy including work on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and said the agency must act now to close pay gaps.
Jocelyn Samuels, vice chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, marked the sixtieth anniversary of the Equal Pay Act and called for immediate action to close persistent wage gaps.
Samuels said the milestone is personal and professional: "I have spent 3 decades advocating for equal pay and the elimination of discrimination in the workplace," she said, noting her work as an EEOC attorney and later at a women's advocacy organization. She also referenced her involvement in the legislative effort that produced the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
The EEOC official framed equal pay as a continuing, urgent obligation. "I am determined to use all of the tools at our disposal to ensure that we don't have to wait another 60 years or even 60 days to begin achieving the promise of the law," Samuels said, emphasizing both long-term commitment and near-term urgency.
Samuels connected the policy work to personal stakes: she said she is "the mother of 2 daughters and the grandmother of 1 granddaughter," and that ensuring equal pay and fair opportunities for them motivates her advocacy.
She closed by thanking attendees for joining the celebration: "Thank you for celebrating with me," she said. The remarks, delivered at an EEOC event (exact date and venue not specified in the transcript), consisted of a public statement and did not record any formal votes or agency actions in this excerpt.
