The U.S. House of Representatives this afternoon passed H.R. 2831, the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007 by a vote of 225-199.

“Passage of this bill, without even one hearing on its provisions, was a dangerous rush to judgment in a matter as important as wage discrimination,” said Randel Johnson, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Vice President for Labor, Immigration and Employee Benefits. “The legislation sweeps much more broadly than reversing the Ledbetter case and makes other major troublesome changes in civil rights law, effectively doing away with statutes of limitations, expanding the class of individuals that can bring cases, among other problems. The result will be more frivolous claims against employers and wasted litigation costs that will only benefit lawyers.”

As far as the Maryland delegation goes, here is how they voted:

Voting for the bill

• C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger III (D), 2nd Congressional District
• John P. Sarbanes (D), 3rd Congressional District
• Albert R. Wynn (D), 4th Congressional District
• Steny H. Hoyer (D), 5th Congressional District (Hoyer’s Floor Statement)
• Elijah E. Cummings (D), 7th Congressional District
• Christopher Van Hollen, Jr. (D), 8th Congressional District

Voting against the bill

• Roscoe G. Bartlett (R), 6th Congressional District

Not voting:

• Wayne T. Gilchrest (R), 1st Congressional District