WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Kerry spoke Saturday of how he would improve the economic plight of women in the United States, with increased minimum wage and pay equity.
The comments in the Democrats' weekly radio address were similar to a speech Kerry, the Democratic Party nominee for president, gave Friday in Wisconsin, where he was trying to shore up the women's vote -- traditionally a strong base for Democrats.
Kerry said his plan to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7 an hour would benefit some 9.2 million women and lift "millions out of poverty."
"We will make sure that women get the wages they've earned -- and not a penny less," Kerry said, pointing to statistics that indicate women are paid 76 cents for each dollar a man makes for similar work.
Kerry's address had an ironic ring, coming at the end of a week during which his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, saw the need to apologize to Laura Bush for saying the first lady never held a job. Laura Bush was a teacher, librarian and the mother of twins.
Saturday, Kerry referred to the women "who do the most important job of all, raising our children.
