When it comes to the gender pay gap , the cynics have used smoke and mirrors to deny the truth while Congress continues to come up short on critical legislation . So now , the President is not waiting another minute to make real progress . He is taking action . On Tuesday , President Barack Obama continued his `` year of action '' by signing two new executive orders to strengthen enforcement of equal pay laws where Congress has so far failed to act . He also challenged the Senate to `` start making this right '' by passing the Paycheck Fairness Act when it comes up for a vote on Wednesday . The Senate has tried twice , but the act was blocked by a handful of stubborn Republicans . But even before the ink was dry on his executive orders , wage-gap deniers were trotting out the same old tired arguments we 've heard for years . Rationalizing or outright denying that pay inequity exists , and dismissing the equal pay push as a political ploy designed to distract from other , `` real '' issues . Yet for millions of women struggling on the brink of poverty , the wage gap is all too real . Despite increasing education and greater professional success , women in the aggregate still make less than men : on average , 77 cents on the dollar , and even less if you are black or Latina . This persistent pay gap has real implications for women and their families , especially when 40 % of our nation 's households with children rely on women as a primary or sole source of income . That 23-cent disparity means a yearly wage gap for women of more than $ 11,000 . And what does that translate into ? On average , working women in the United States can afford 91 fewer weeks of food for their families , 13 fewer months of rent , and more than 3,000 fewer gallons of gas per year as compared to men . It 's not surprising then that polls rank equal pay for equal work as a top issue for women across the country . More people prefer a male boss , but gender gap is narrowing . But like a bad magician , the naysayers are trying to use smoke and mirrors to fool us into believing the problem is just an illusion . They say the wage gap is a myth , based on anecdotes , not data . They say there 's no need for new laws , because it 's already illegal to discriminate . Any differences that remain , they say , can be explained away by personal choices . While it 's true the wage gap is due to a combination of factors , study after study has shown the wage gap — as much as 40 % of it — holds true even when we control for factors such as education level , profession or position . It can not be fully explained by personal choices , and can be attributed in some measure to overt or unintentional gender-based discrimination . The gap manifests out of the gate and only widens over time . A 2012 report from the American Association of University Women , `` Graduating to a Pay Gap , '' made an `` apples-to-apples '' comparison of college-educated women and men working full time one year out of school . After controlling for college major , occupation , hours worked per week , economic sector , and other factors , women still made 7 % less than what their male counterparts made . And in an earlier report , the association found that 10 years after graduation , the unexplained pay gap widened to 12 % . Indeed , women 's wages are lower in nearly all occupations -- doctors , lawyers , even low-wage workers . And this is true regardless of whether the job is one performed predominantly by men , predominantly women , or an even mix of both . What millennial women want now . That 's why we still need Congress to act , to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act to ensure that all employers are held to the standards embodied in Tuesday 's executive actions . This week Congress has an opportunity to go from its standing ovation for equal pay at the State of the Union to really standing up for women . When the rubber meets the road , let 's hope we move beyond the rhetoric to acting on real solutions . Do n't make the President take out his pen again , unless it is to sign the new law . Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion .
Maya Harris : The first thing I noticed was the lack of a front door. Congress , she says , now must pass the Paycheck Fairness Act . Wage-gap deniers , she says , are trotting out the same old tired arguments .