July 6, 1983
As one who is firmly committed to the cause of fair treatment for American women under the law, I welcome the Supreme Court's decision, announced today, in the Norris case.
Last January, in my State of the Union address, I declared this administration's commitment to achieve greater equity for women in the pension field. Today's court ruling has largely achieved this goal and marks a major step forward in making America an even more fair and just society.
Earlier this year, in a closely related case, my administration filed a brief before the Supreme Court in support of equal benefits for women and men under employer-sponsored pension benefit plans. In its decision today, the court decided that such equal benefits must be paid to women and men for pension credits they accrue from this day forward. This decision is a milestone for working women and represents the kind of real legal equity between men and women which I believe we can achieve through existing statutory and legal processes.
In the months ahead, in cooperation with the Congress, we will work for legislative changes consistent with the court's decision and will continue to seek other ways of guaranteeing fair treatment under the law for the women of America.