The fi rst bill newly inaugurated President Barack Obama signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. During his announcement in the East Room of the White House, President Obama remarked that the pay equity issue was more than just a women’s issue, but also a family issue, related to principles of fundamental fairness and American freedom. The president praised Lilly Ledbetter who was in attendance, congressional leaders, and the “the advocates who are in the audience who worked so hard to get it passed” (Woolley & Peters, 2009).