President Obama made a pitch Saturday night for higher pay for women, including first ladies.
With first lady Michelle Obama and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in the audience at the annual Congressional Black Caucus dinner, the president said equal pay for women is “everybody’s issue.”
“I want Michelle getting paid at some point,” Mr. Obama said. “We’ve got an outstanding former secretary of state [Mrs. Clinton] here who was also a former first lady. And I know she can relate to Michelle when she said [to him], ’How come you get paid, and I don’t?’ “
The president devoted most of his speech to minority women, calling them “the foot soldiers” in the civil-rights movement and saying they still don’t enjoy the same economic opportunity as others.
“It makes a mockery of our economy when black women make 30 few cents for every dollar a white man earns,” Mr. Obama said. “When women of color aren’t given the opportunity to live up to their God-given potential, we all lose out on their talents. We’re not as good a country as we can be. We might miss out on the next Mae Jemison, or Ursula Burns, or Serena Williams or Michelle Obama.”
He called for raising the minimum wage and expanding paid leave, among other initiatives, to help minority women get ahead.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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