Obama signs equal-pay bill

WASHINGTON — President Obama signed his first bill Thursday, a gender pay equity law that had been a hallmark of his campaign for the White House.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act makes it easier for workers to sue companies for pay discrimination and effectively reverses a 2007 Supreme Court decision that had given workers 180 days to file a lawsuit after the pay inequity allegedly first took place.
"It is fitting that with the very first bill I sign … we are upholding one of this nation's first principles: that we are all created equal and each deserve a chance to pursue our own version of happiness," Obama said.
Like his predecessors, Obama signed his name in stages, inscribing part of his signature before handing a pen to a supporter. "We can always get more pens," he assured the dozen or so lawmakers arrayed behind him.
The last one went to the bill's namesake, Alabama resident Lilly Ledbetter