An editorial published earlier this week ("Women Deserve Equal Pay," Aug. 12) rightfully acknowledges the importance of equal pay for women in the workplace. The passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act by the U.S. House of Representatives takes an important step in the right direction for women and the families they support. The Paycheck Fairness Act would address pay discrimination by strengthening the Equal Pay Act. However, the author failed to mention another significant piece of pay discrimination legislation that is pending in Congress.

Last year, in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber, the Court ruled that a woman who had been subject to gender-based pay discrimination for almost 20 years wasn't entitled to take action against her employer.

That ruling - and the Senate's failure to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to overturn it - hasn't exactly helped the working women of North Dakota. Women here working full-time year round in 2006 earned only 70 percent of what their similarly situated male counterparts made - seven percentage points below the national average of 77 percent. Even though we're applauding the passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act in the House, we can't forget this injustice.

The women of North Dakota deserve equal pay.

(Renee Stromme is the executive director of the North Dakota Women's Network.)