SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Political strategist Donna Brazile urged a hotel ballroom packed with hundreds of women not to settle for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that allows women to file pay discrimination lawsuits and was signed into law by President Barack Obama earlier this year.

She said the wage disparity between men and women will not disappear until Congress passes both the Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act, which are now in limbo.

“We have to make sure our issues are not given one day on Capitol Hill and the press is focused on, ‘We’ve done it!’ when we know that’s a lie,” Brazile said. “There is no reason for us to start celebrating. We need the Paycheck Fairness Act and Fair Pay Act because our work is not completed.

“We have to speak up and make people uncomfortable. We need to let people know it is time to value women’s work. The fight for equal pay for women is central to the civil rights movement. We must call upon our senators.”

Brazile urged everyone in the room to not only ask their senators to support the bills but to actually co-sponsor them.

“We need to restore everything” in those bills, she said to enthusiastic applause. “We need to restore everything that was weakened and everything that was lost.”

In today’s economy, she said, more families than ever are relying on female providers to make a fair wage.

Brazile spoke at an annual luncheon by the non-profit organization Equal Rights Advocates, which litigates on behalf of women and girls. The organization, whose achievements include wins around Title IX sports funding and a high-profile class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart for systematic pay discrimination, was celebrating its 35th year of existence.

Brazile’s speech, which was colored by her own experiences with discrimination and stories around Title IX – she was a star “shot-putter” in college -- was met with laughs and enthusiastic applause.

“I don’t go on TV unless I know I am being paid (as much as) James Carville and Bill Bennett,” she said. “You are trail blazers. You are opening doors.

“We are going to continue to break down barriers until we no longer have to file lawsuits and fight.”

If you haven’t already, e-mail your senators.