Presidential Proclamation -- National Equal Pay Day, 2015

NATIONAL EQUAL PAY DAY, 2015

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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

In the United States, the promise of opportunity is built on the idea that everyone who works hard should have the chance to get ahead.  This creed is at the core of our democracy, and it is central to our belief that America does best when all people are able to share in our Nation's prosperity and contribute to our success.  Yet every day, countless women perform the same work as their male colleagues only to earn less than their fair share.  On National Equal Pay Day, we mark how far into the new year women would have to work just to earn the same as men did in the previous year, and we renew our efforts to end this injustice.

On average, full-time working women earn 78 cents for every dollar earned by men, and women of color face an even greater disparity.  This wage gap puts women at a career-long disadvantage, and it harms families, communities, and our entire economy.  Today, in more than half of all households, women are breadwinners -- 49 million children depend on women's salaries.  But our economy and our policies have not caught up to this reality.  When women experience pay discrimination it limits their future, and it also hurts the people they provide for.  It means less for their families' everyday needs, for investments in their children's futures, and for their own retirements.  These effects reduce our shared prosperity and restrict our Nation's economic growth.  Wage inequality affects us all, and we each must do more to make certain that women are full and equal participants in our economy.

When we take action to help women succeed, we help America succeed, and my Administration is committed to ensuring women have every opportunity to reach their fullest potential.  The first bill I signed as President was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and the following year -- to crack down on violations of equal pay laws -- I created the National Equal Pay Task Force, which to date has helped women recover millions of dollars in lost wages.  If workers do not know they are underpaid, they cannot challenge the inequality; that is why we are going to require Federal contractors to submit data on employee compensation, including data by sex and race, and why last year I signed an Executive Order prohibiting Federal contractors from retaliating against employees who choose to discuss their pay.  And I continue to call on the Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act to protect all people's fundamental right to a fair wage.

In the last half-century, our economy has changed in many ways for the better because of the increased participation of women.  But our values are not yet fully reflected in how we pay women.  We tell our daughters that in America there are no limits to what they can achieve -- yet their mothers face persistent barriers to equality and success.  We have to do better because our daughters deserve better.  If we come together, we can change the policies and attitudes that hold women back, and we can fix this.  On this day, we recommit to making equal pay a reality, and we continue our work to build a world where all our children are limited only by the size of their dreams and the power of their imaginations.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 14, 2015, as National Equal Pay Day.  I call upon all Americans to recognize the full value of women's skills and their significant contributions to the labor force, acknowledge the injustice of wage inequality, and join efforts to achieve equal pay.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand fifteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth.

BARACK OBAMA

Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate

NOMINATIONS SENT TO THE SENATE:

Gabriel Camarillo, of Texas,  to be an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, vice Daniel Ginsberg.

Joyce Louise Connery, of Massachusetts, to be a Member of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board for a term expiring October 18, 2019, vice Peter Stanley Winokur, resigned.

Jonathan Elkind, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Secretary of  Energy (International Affairs), vice David B. Sandalow, resigned.

Joseph Bruce Hamilton, of Texas, to be a Member of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board for the remainder of the term expiring October 18, 2016, vice Kenneth L. Mossman.

William A. Heidt, of Pennsylvania, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Dean A. Reuter, of Virginia, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service for a term expiring September 14, 2016, vice Julie Fisher Cummings, term expired.

David Malcolm Robinson, of Connecticut, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, vice Frederick D. Barton, resigned.

David Malcolm Robinson, of Connecticut, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Conflict and Stabilization Operations), vice Frederick D. Barton, resigned.

Shamina Singh, of New York, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service for a term expiring October 6, 2019, vice Alan D. Solomont, resigned.

Message to Congress -- Protocol Amending the Convention between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Japan

TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:

I transmit herewith, for the advice and consent of the Senate to its ratification, the Protocol Amending the Convention between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Japan for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and a related agreement entered into by an exchange of notes (together the "proposed Protocol"), both signed on January 24, 2013, at Washington, together with correcting notes exchanged March 9 and March 29, 2013.  I also transmit for the information of the Senate the report of the Department of State, which includes an overview of the proposed Protocol.

The proposed Protocol was negotiated to bring U.S.-Japan tax treaty relations into closer conformity with current U.S. tax treaty policy.  For example, the proposed Protocol provides for an exemption from source-country withholding tax on all cross-border payments of interest, and updates the provisions of the existing Convention with respect to the mutual agreement procedure by incorporating mandatory arbitration of certain cases that the competent authorities of the United States and Japan have been unable to resolve after a reasonable period of time. 

I recommend that the Senate give early and favorableconsideration to the proposed Protocol and give its advice and consent to its ratification.

BARACK OBAMA