While lamenting the gender pay gap, President Obama remained hopeful about women's future as he marked Equal Pay Day on Tuesday by dedicating the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum as a national monument. "If you don't believe we're going to close the wage gap, you need to come to this house, because this house has a story to tell," Obama said, referring to the Washington, D.C. building that's housed the National Women's Party — which is responsible for writing hundreds of pieces of local, state, and federal legislation supporting equal rights for women — since 1929.
Obama predicts that in the future, people will be "astonished that there was ever a time when women were vastly outnumbered in the boardroom or in Congress, that there was ever a time when a woman had never sat in the Oval Office."
"I don't know how long it will take to get there," Obama continued, "but I know we're getting closer to that day."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.