Soccer star Megan Rapinoe, a mainstay of the U.S. Women’s National Team who has been part of an equal-pay class action since 2017, told House lawmakers Wednesday that women can’t escape inequity in compensation by simply outperforming male counterparts—an argument that prompted some Republicans to question gender gaps broadly. Rapinoe, who scored in the 2019 World Cup final as the U.S. women’s team won its second consecutive World Cup title, took aim at the need for measures to ensure equal pay during a hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. “What we’ve learned and what we continue to learn is that there is no level of status, accomplishments, or power that will protect you from the clutches of inequity,” she told the panel, testifying virtually. “One cannot simply outperform inequality or be excellent enough to escape discrimination of any kind.” She said the women’s national team has won four World Cup championships on top of four Olympic gold medals, a record that far outshines that of the U.S. Men’s National Team, which has never reached such international heights. And though the women’s team has risen in popularity with its success, its lawsuit claims its members still experience a wide gap in pay compared to players on the men’s team. “We have filled stadiums, broken viewing records, and sold out jerseys, all popular metrics by which we are judged,” Rapinoe said. “Yet despite all of this, we are still paid less than men—for each trophy, of which there are many, each win, each tie, each time we play.” She said that if World Cup champions can experience inequity in pay, the same can happen “to every person marginalized by gender.” Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake