Lilly Ledbetter Has Her Day

On Thursday, President Barack Obama signed his first bill into law—the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act—with the lofty aim of ensuring equal pay for equal work and eradicating workplace discrimination. The bill’s namesake, a former Goodyear employee, was on hand, as was first lady Michelle Obama, who at a reception after the signing ceremony called Ledbetter “one of my favorite people.”

The New York Times:

“It is fitting that with the very first bill I sign — the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act — we are upholding one of this nation’s first principles: that we are all created equal and each deserve a chance to pursue our own version of happiness,” the president said.

He said was signing the bill not only in honor of Ms. Ledbetter — who stood behind him, shaking her head and clasping her hands in seeming disbelief — but in honor of his own grandmother, “who worked in a bank all her life, and even after she hit that glass ceiling, kept getting up again” and for his daughters, “because I want them to grow up in a nation that values their contributions, where there are no limits to their dreams.”

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AP photo / Ron Edmonds

President Barack Obama signs the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act on Thursday, with Ledbetter at center behind Obama. Others, from left, are House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Sen. Olympia Snowe, District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and Senate Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi. The signing occurred in the White House.