KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In Washington, today, President Clinton launches an initiative to make things more equal between men and women, especially when it comes to paychecks. Trying to keep warm, CNN's Chris Black joins us from the White House. Hi, Chris.</s>CHRIS BLACK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra. While the voting for the next president finally begins today in Iowa, this president is continuing to roll out policy initiatives for his final year in office. Later this morning, the president will be joined by women's soccer star Michelle Akers when he proposes a $27 million increase and enforcement of the laws that require employers to pay men and women equal pay for equal work. Now, the pay discrepancy between men and women has been shrinking over the last 30 years, but federal statistics show that women, on average, still earn only 75 cents for every dollar earned by a man. To address that inequity, Mr. Clinton will propose increasing funding by $10 million for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to train 3,000 employers about equal pay laws and hire 1,000 more inspectors to identify and respond to wage discrimination. An additional $17 million will go to the Department of Labor to train women in occupations where women have been traditionally unrepresented -- under represented, particularly high-tech. The president made a similar proposal last year, but it went nowhere in the Republican-controlled Congress. But this year, the president is trying again. It's important to note that women are an incredibly import constituency for the Democratic Party, and to help the president highlight this issue, Michelle Akers, one of the women's World Cup soccer stars, is joining him today at the at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building for this announcement. She and her teammates have been boycotting training because of a compensation dispute with the U.S. Soccer Association. Not surprisingly, women are paid less than men in professional soccer. This is all part of the policy roll out for the president's State of the Union address on Thursday, when he will unveil his policy blueprint for his last year in office. Chris Black, CNN, reporting live from the White House.</s>PHILLIPS: All right, thanks, Chris.
President Clinton to Launch Equal Pay Initiative