The House of Representatives moved to help promote equal pay for equal work by passing two bills last week, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and the Paycheck Fairness Act.

In a teleconference with reporters earlier in the week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi described the bill as a high priority.

'It is not only about what this means to women and their families, it is very important because of what it means to the economic security of our country,' Pelosi told reporters.

Lilly Ledbetter, for whom the first bill is named, discussed the harm pay discrimination causes. “Women from all over the country have told me how they are paid less for doing the same job as their male colleagues – and now there’s nothing they can do,” she said.

Ledbetter, a former 19-year employee and supervisor at Goodyear Tire, accidentally discovered that she had been paid less than male employees in her workplace. She found evidence that she earned between 15 and 40 percent than other supervisors with similar experience and job performance reviews.

After filing a lawsuit against Goodyear and winning a jury award for back pay and damages, Ledbetter's victory was overturned by the US Supreme Court in 2007. The high court found that discrimination had occurred, but it insisted that federal law requires a lawsuit such as Ledbetter's must be filed within six months of the first discriminatory paycheck or action, regardless of whether or not she could have known about it.

'This ruling just doesn't make sense in the real world,' Ledbetter stated. Employers should not be allowed to profit by paying some employees fewer wages for the same work, she said.

The message from the Supreme Court in her case was clear, Ledbetter continued. '[Employers] will not be punished for pay discrimination, if they do it long enough and cover it up well enough.'

Fair pay is a crucial issue for women-headed households who face disproportional poverty and lower incomes, said Marcia Greenberger of the National Women's Law Center. 'This absolutely must pass.'

Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, stated that if the Supreme court decision in Ledbetter's case is allowed to stand, it will impact more people than just women.

'This is a matter of fairness and simple justice,' Henderson said. 'American workers need to know they will be treated fairly and equitably, especially in these trying economic times.'

He added, 'In the case of Ledbetter, to leave the high court ruling in place, means that women, people of color, older Americans, and people with disabilities will have an even more difficult time proving pay discrimination.'

The court's decision has already impacted other discrimination lawsuits. Some federal judges have ruled, using the Ledbetter decision as a model, that plaintiffs had to file their discrimination suits within six months of the first discriminatory act, sometimes even before the plaintiff had any relationship to the defendant.

Democratic leaders in Congress hinted that the Senate may pass the same bills this week and make these two measures the first major legislation to be signed into law by President Barack Obama.