On average, women earn 81 cents for every dollar a man makes. In other words, the salary for a man is roughly 19 percent higher than the salary for a woman.

The figures are even worse for women of color. Black women earn only 63 cents and Latinas only 55 cents for each dollar earned by a white male.

This is today, this is now!

Gender-based wage discrimination remains a problem in the workplace despite enactment over 50 years ago of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which made it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women in the same workplace who perform substantially equal work, because there are no assurances that wage discrimination is being enforced.

It is past time Congress corrected this discriminatory wrong. To close the pay gap, we need good public policies. Encouraging women to negotiate a higher salary doesn’t do much if there are institutional and structural barriers that prevent them from earning their value.

Congress must pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. The Paycheck Fairness Act, introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Sen. Patty Murray, will help secure equal pay for equal work for all Americans. The bill would update the Equal Pay Act, which has not been able to achieve its promise of closing the wage gap because of limited enforcement tools and inadequate remedies.

This wage gap ends now and it ends with the passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act.