WASHINGTON  President Obama plans to press Congress today to pass pay-equity legislation that would make it easier for women to sue employers who pay them less than their male counterparts, the White House said Monday.

"Women deserve equal pay," White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said in an interview, citing government statistics that show women earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn. "It's a very fundamental right."

Obama will announce his support for the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that has languished in Congress for several years. In 2007, President Bush warned he would veto the bill, and it has been stalled by opposition from some Republicans and business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The bill passed in the House in 2009, but did not get through the Senate. Its prospects there remain unclear.

"The bill is a cruel hoax. It won't empower women who face pay discrimination, but it will empower trial lawyers whose junk lawsuits will clog up the courts and make it hard for businesses to grow and hire," said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio.

The bill would:

• Put gender-based wage discrimination on par with other forms of wage discrimination, such as that based on race, by allowing women to sue for compensatory and punitive damages, rather than just for back pay.

• Limit the legitimate reasons employers can give in court for wage disparities.

• Prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who discuss their wages.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which urges Congress to pass the law, says the measure would provide needed updates to the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which included only limited enforcement provisions.

"Due to rising unemployment rates, families need to bring home every dollar they rightfully earn, making pay equity even more necessary, not only to families' economic security but also to the nation's economic recovery," the ACLU's Laura Murphy said in a July 13 letter to senators.

Jarrett called the legislation a needed "companion" to the Lilly Ledbetter Act, signed by Obama in 2009, days after he took office. Named for a former Goodyear employee who sued for back wages, the Ledbetter Act extended a 180-day statute of limitations on workers' ability to sue for pay discrimination.

Despite opposition from the chamber, Jarrett said she believes most CEOs will support the bill. "It's fair, balanced and reasonable," she said.

A White House task force plans to announce today that the Obama administration will:

• Improve the government's data collection from businesses to get a better handle on the scope of wage discrimination.

• Close the wage gap among federal employees.

• Promote greater workplace flexibility. Vice President Biden, noting that two-thirds of households with children are run by working parents, said, "The workplace has, for the most part, not changed to reflect these realities — and it must."