Equal Pay Day: Megan Rapinoe Testify About Inequities To Congress

Soccer star Megan Rapinoe is making her case for women's equality on Capitol Hill as part of Wednesday's Equal Pay Day. She was set to testify before Congress about the inequities in pay and treatment between men and women athletes.

The 35-year-old captain of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, who also plays for the OL Reign of the National Women’s Soccer League, has pushed for equal pay between men and women athletes for years, specifically addressing the difference in prize money for major tournaments like the World Cup, ABC News reported.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., is holding the hearing and will be calling witnesses, like Rapinoe and others, to give their first-hand accounts of the disparities. She claims COVID-19 has only exacerbated these issues, according to USA Today.

Rapinoe was set to testify at 4:15 p.m. EST, but she released her opening statement before the hearing to the House Oversight Committee.

"What we've learned and what we continue to learn is that there is no level of status, accomplishments, or power that will protect you from the clutches of inequity. One cannot simply outperform inequality of any kind," her statement read.

The USWNT had been making claims of discrimination for years, but the issue moved front and centered in March of 2019, when the team filed a lawsuit against U.S. Soccer, the sport's governing body. The players claimed that the organization was in violation of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

In December 2020, the team agreed to a settlement to only a part of their entire lawsuit, which dealt with issues like unequal working condition, staffing, travel and lodging conditions, ESPN reported.

But the matter of equal pay continues to be a sticking point as the less successful men's team earns more than the four-time World Cup and Olympics champion women's squad.

This hearing comes just a few days after the NCAA was called out for the giant disparities between the women’s weight room, meals, COVID-19 tests and “swag bags” and the men’s.

The NCAA spoke out and apologized, as well as updated the women’s work-out facility over the weekend.