Congress should focus on restoring economic security for the middle class—and those working their way up to the middle class—by passing legislation that rewards hard work with fair wages, expands apprenticeships and job training, builds on manufacturing growth, and ensures large corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.

The Equal Pay Act was signed into law more than 60 years ago, yet American women still make only 82 cents, on average, for every dollar earned by men. The gap is even wider for women of color, who lose up to about $1 million over the course of their working lives. Senator Durbin supports the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would amend the Equal Pay Act to more strongly discourage pay discrimination and strengthen workplace protections for women across the country.

In America, if someone works full-time they should be able to support their family—they should be paid a living wage, have access to quality health insurance and paid leave, and be able to save for retirement. However, far too often, employers are more focused on returning profits to wealthy shareholders and executives than doing the right thing for American workers and the American communities they rely upon.

In the last two centuries, government support for scientific research has helped split the atom, defeat polio, conquer space, create the Internet, map the human genome, and much more. The federal government should continue to make investments in high-value research and development that are critical to U.S. economic growth and competitiveness. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Durbin has worked to provide funding to researchers at Argonne and Fermi National Laboratories and Illinois’ universities so that they can conduct ground-breaking scientific research. Senator Durbin also has introduced the American Cures Act and the American Innovation Act, which would increase funding for nine medical and basic science research agencies. Additionally, Senator Durbin led the congressional effort in bringing the national Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute to Illinois, allowing manufacturers of all sizes from across Illinois to be at the forefront of innovative, industry-driven research making Illinois and America more competitive on the global stage.