By PHILIP ELLIOTT
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama declared Thursday that giving equal pay to women and men isn't just a women's issue, it's a family issue.

Obama appeared before a packed East Room audience for a ceremony to sign an equal-pay bill. His entrance in the room was met with hearty cheers from the many labor and women's groups represented there.

"This is a wonderful day," he said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the first woman speaker in the history of Congress, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, were present. Clinton went further in her campaign for the presidency than any woman previously did, although she ultimately lost the Democratic Party competition to Obama.

The measure is designed to make it easier for workers to sue for decades-old discrimination.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act effectively nullifies a 2007 Supreme Court decision that said workers had only 180 days to file a pay-discrimination lawsuit.