Bus crash aftermath: 'We just don't know if they've found her' - Los Angeles Times

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Once word spread that a bus carrying L.A.-area high school students was involved in a fiery crash in Northern California on Thursday night, dozens of parents and classmates frantically called and texted the teenagers, hoping their loved ones weren't among those killed.

On Friday afternoon, nearly 24 hours after the crash, parents and officials at some schools were still trying to track down missing children. As the hours passed, their fears worsened.

When Adrian Castro didn't show up to El Monte High School on Thursday, his best friend assumed he had decided to go on the trip to Humboldt State University. That night, Angel Gonzalez said, his phone buzzed with messages asking if Castro was OK.

"HMU bro!!" he tweeted to Castro, asking him to "hit me up" with news. The 19-year-old never responded. On Friday, he was identified by school officials as one of the students still unaccounted for.

Gonzalez, 18, said he was "just trying to process all this."

Ten people, including five students, were killed after a FedEx truck hit their bus head-on on Interstate 5 near Orland, Calif., officials said. The bus burst into flames, and more than 30 people aboard were injured. 

Glenn County Sheriff Larry Jones said some of the victims were so badly burned it would take medical and dental records to positively identify them.

The bus was one of three caravaning to Humboldt State, including two from Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and a third from Fresno.

It was not immediately clear which Los Angeles-area students were on which bus.

Students on the two buses that left from Downtown L.A.'s Union Station were supposed to be divided into two groups: last names beginning with the letters A to L on one bus, M to Z on another, Humboldt State spokesman Frank Whitlatch said. But the teenagers "did what 17-year-olds do," and switched vehicles to sit with their friends.

Only one victim -- Arthur Arzola, a 26-year-old Humboldt advisor -- has been positively identified by coroner's officials. Relatives and school officials have identified a few of the others who have not been accounted for.

At Norte Vista High School in Riverside, a cloud hung over students preparing for prom night as they worried about the whereabouts of classmate Marisa Serrato, whose family told reporters she has been missing since the crash.

Marisa and her twin sister Marisol, both seniors, chose to skip the dance to visit Humboldt State University, said a classmate who gave only his first name, Elmer.

"We just don't know if they've found her," Elmer said. 

Gabriel Sanchez, a spokesman for the Green Dot organization of charter schools, said officials believe students from two of its campuses -- Ánimo Inglewood Charter High School in Inglewood and Ánimo Jackie Robinson Charter High School in South Los Angeles -- were on the bus trip but they are still trying to confirm that and find out whether the teens are safe.

“We don’t know for sure,” he said, noting that some students may sign up for the trip but not actually take it. “We are still trying to find out the information.”

L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy provided an updated list of 14 L.A. Unified campuses with students on the bus involved in the fatal crash. Deasy said he did not know if students from these schools were among the five killed.

“We’re very worried about the condition of a number of students,” he said in an interview, declining to elaborate further.

The bus was heading to Humboldt State for its "Preview Plus" program, which gives low-income and first-generation college students a free chance to visit the university. About 100 students typically attend the two-day session from the L.A. area, the university said.

Some students were invited but ultimately declined the invitation. Many schools spent Friday trying to determine if they had students on the trip.

Ten students from Alliance Luskin College-Ready Academy were accepted to Humboldt State and had been invited on the tour, but none decided to go on the trip, said Chalio Medrano, principal of the South Los Angeles charter.

"We've been in contact with families since last night clarifying and also in communication with college counselors and verified that all of our students were at school yesterday," Medrano said.

One of the students accepted, Monica Rivera, said she received several emails from Humboldt about attending the spring preview day, but the 17-year-old senior said she was too busy.

"I knew I wouldn't have time," Rivera said. "I was shocked thinking I could have been on that bus."

Investigators have launched and intensive examination of the crash, which was first reported about 5:40 p.m. Thursday.

California Highway Patrol Lt. Scott Fredrick said it remained unclear whether the FedEx driver – who officials said was among those killed – had fallen asleep, whether his semi had some type of mechanical failure or if there had been a collision with another vehicle in the moments before the bus was struck.

Fredrick said CHP investigators were being assisted by the National Transportation Safety Board, which sent a team that arrived at the remote Northern California scene Friday morning. Investigators would use  “sophisticated surveying and mapping equipment,” along with 3-D diagramming, to reconstruct what led up to the crash, he said.

Fredrick said investigators would also consider roadway and weather conditions. But he and others cautioned it could take up to six months for the CHP to complete its report.

“The investigation itself … is a long, tedious process,” said Ruben Leal of the CHP. “We may not have some answers for months.”

Carpenter said 31 people were transported to seven hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to critical. Nine people were pronounced dead at the scene, and another died later of severe burns.

More than a dozen agencies responded to the crash, which Jones said was heard up to a quarter-mile away. “This was a horrific collision,” he said.

“The great irony here, the great sadness is these are the students California needs to be successful going forward,” CSU Chancellor Timothy White said, saying the students “had their dream of going to Humboldt State taken away away by this tragic accident.”

“The soul of the CSU has been cut deeply,” he said.

Seven students from the doomed bus trip spent the night at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Orland, where they were being reunited with parents Friday. The Red Cross had set up cots, and volunteers brought water and food and blankets.

"Some students slept," said Scott Gruendl, a county health official. "Some students couldn't sleep."

On Friday morning, the high school across the street posted "Our thoughts are with you" on its sign. As the day wore on, a couple who lives nearby brought homemade cookies.

"There's nothing we can really do," said the baker, Juliana Gregory, who has four children of her own. "If we could, we'd give them a hug and tell them we're praying for them."

ALSO:

Bus crash survivor recounts harrowing escape

California bus crash: 5 students among 10 killed; at least 30 injured

Aspiring TV producer mistakenly killed by deputies in West Hollywood

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Bus crash aftermath: 'We just don't know if they've found her' - Los Angeles Times

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Once word spread that a bus carrying L.A.-area high school students was involved in a fiery crash in Northern California on Thursday night, dozens of parents and classmates frantically called and texted the teenagers, hoping their loved ones weren't among those killed.

On Friday afternoon, nearly 24 hours after the crash, parents and officials at some schools were still trying to track down missing children. As the hours passed, their fears worsened.

When Adrian Castro didn't show up to El Monte High School on Thursday, his best friend assumed he had decided to go on the trip to Humboldt State University. That night, Angel Gonzalez said, his phone buzzed with messages asking if Castro was OK.

"HMU bro!!" he tweeted to Castro, asking him to "hit me up" with news. The 19-year-old never responded. On Friday, he was identified by school officials as one of the students still unaccounted for.

Gonzalez, 18, said he was "just trying to process all this."

Ten people, including five students, were killed after a FedEx truck hit their bus head-on on Interstate 5 near Orland, Calif., officials said. The bus burst into flames, and more than 30 people aboard were injured. 

Glenn County Sheriff Larry Jones said some of the victims were so badly burned it would take medical and dental records to positively identify them.

The bus was one of three caravaning to Humboldt State, including two from Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and a third from Fresno.

It was not immediately clear which Los Angeles-area students were on which bus.

Students on the two buses that left from Downtown L.A.'s Union Station were supposed to be divided into two groups: last names beginning with the letters A to L on one bus, M to Z on another, Humboldt State spokesman Frank Whitlatch said. But the teenagers "did what 17-year-olds do," and switched vehicles to sit with their friends.

Only one victim -- Arthur Arzola, a 26-year-old Humboldt advisor -- has been positively identified by coroner's officials. Relatives and school officials have identified a few of the others who have not been accounted for.

At Norte Vista High School in Riverside, a cloud hung over students preparing for prom night as they worried about the whereabouts of classmate Marisa Serrato, whose family told reporters she has been missing since the crash.

Marisa and her twin sister Marisol, both seniors, chose to skip the dance to visit Humboldt State University, said a classmate who gave only his first name, Elmer.

"We just don't know if they've found her," Elmer said. 

Gabriel Sanchez, a spokesman for the Green Dot organization of charter schools, said officials believe students from two of its campuses -- Ánimo Inglewood Charter High School in Inglewood and Ánimo Jackie Robinson Charter High School in South Los Angeles -- were on the bus trip but they are still trying to confirm that and find out whether the teens are safe.

“We don’t know for sure,” he said, noting that some students may sign up for the trip but not actually take it. “We are still trying to find out the information.”

L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy provided an updated list of 14 L.A. Unified campuses with students on the bus involved in the fatal crash. Deasy said he did not know if students from these schools were among the five killed.

“We’re very worried about the condition of a number of students,” he said in an interview, declining to elaborate further.

The bus was heading to Humboldt State for its "Preview Plus" program, which gives low-income and first-generation college students a free chance to visit the university. About 100 students typically attend the two-day session from the L.A. area, the university said.

Some students were invited but ultimately declined the invitation. Many schools spent Friday trying to determine if they had students on the trip.

Ten students from Alliance Luskin College-Ready Academy were accepted to Humboldt State and had been invited on the tour, but none decided to go on the trip, said Chalio Medrano, principal of the South Los Angeles charter.

"We've been in contact with families since last night clarifying and also in communication with college counselors and verified that all of our students were at school yesterday," Medrano said.

One of the students accepted, Monica Rivera, said she received several emails from Humboldt about attending the spring preview day, but the 17-year-old senior said she was too busy.

"I knew I wouldn't have time," Rivera said. "I was shocked thinking I could have been on that bus."

Investigators have launched and intensive examination of the crash, which was first reported about 5:40 p.m. Thursday.

California Highway Patrol Lt. Scott Fredrick said it remained unclear whether the FedEx driver – who officials said was among those killed – had fallen asleep, whether his semi had some type of mechanical failure or if there had been a collision with another vehicle in the moments before the bus was struck.

Fredrick said CHP investigators were being assisted by the National Transportation Safety Board, which sent a team that arrived at the remote Northern California scene Friday morning. Investigators would use  “sophisticated surveying and mapping equipment,” along with 3-D diagramming, to reconstruct what led up to the crash, he said.

Fredrick said investigators would also consider roadway and weather conditions. But he and others cautioned it could take up to six months for the CHP to complete its report.

“The investigation itself … is a long, tedious process,” said Ruben Leal of the CHP. “We may not have some answers for months.”

Carpenter said 31 people were transported to seven hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to critical. Nine people were pronounced dead at the scene, and another died later of severe burns.

More than a dozen agencies responded to the crash, which Jones said was heard up to a quarter-mile away. “This was a horrific collision,” he said.

“The great irony here, the great sadness is these are the students California needs to be successful going forward,” CSU Chancellor Timothy White said, saying the students “had their dream of going to Humboldt State taken away away by this tragic accident.”

“The soul of the CSU has been cut deeply,” he said.

Seven students from the doomed bus trip spent the night at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Orland, where they were being reunited with parents Friday. The Red Cross had set up cots, and volunteers brought water and food and blankets.

"Some students slept," said Scott Gruendl, a county health official. "Some students couldn't sleep."

On Friday morning, the high school across the street posted "Our thoughts are with you" on its sign. As the day wore on, a couple who lives nearby brought homemade cookies.

"There's nothing we can really do," said the baker, Juliana Gregory, who has four children of her own. "If we could, we'd give them a hug and tell them we're praying for them."

ALSO:

Bus crash survivor recounts harrowing escape

California bus crash: 5 students among 10 killed; at least 30 injured

Aspiring TV producer mistakenly killed by deputies in West Hollywood

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Mother of student killed in fiery bus crash drives to crash scene - Los Angeles Times

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ORLAND, Calif. -- Adrian Castro’s mother heard about the fiery bus crash and, when she couldn’t get answers about the fate of her son, got in her car and drove all night.

At 6:30 a.m. Friday, she walked into a Red Cross shelter near the crash site and got the news she had been dreading.

“They were 90% sure my son was dead,” said Veronica Soriano, crying over the phone. “They just had to get the dental records to confirm.”

Officials have said that 10 people were killed in the fiery Interstate 5 crash: Five students, three chaperons and the drivers of the bus and FedEx truck. Coroner's officials have formally identified only one victim -- 26-year-old admissions counselor Arthur Arzola -- and said bodies were so badly burned that identifying them will be difficult. But relatives have said they presume the worst for missing loved ones who were known to be on the bus.

Adrian Castro's classmates and their parents struggled to absorb the news on campus, where students had begun chalking memories of the teen on sidewalks. Castro, 19, played cornerback on the El Monte High team and someday hoped to be an athletic trainer.

“They’re distraught; they’re all falling apart,” said Monica Lopez, whose two sons played with Castro. “But they’re all sticking together.”

Angel Gonzalez, another classmate, said Adrian had wavered on taking the trip to Humboldt State because of a party he wanted to attend.

“He was really excited about Humboldt,” Angel said. “He was thrilled. He wanted to go see how it is. He’s just adventurous, wanted to have a good time.”

Another victim, Arzola, the admissions counselor, was described by family members as having a passion for working with underprivileged students and helping guide them toward college. Though he worked for Humboldt State, he continued to live in Southern California and recruit students from the region. The university confirmed his death.

"Words cannot express our sadness," Humboldt State officials said in a statement.

Arzola's stepmother said he was a straight-A student in high school and served as a peer counselor at academic camps geared toward helping underprivileged young people.

“He wanted to make it an even playing field. He wanted them to have the same opportunities,” Stephanie Arzola said. “He always just wanted to just help students be passionate about school and have them move on to higher education, make something of themselves, and have a career.”

Michael Myvett, a 29-year-old Humboldt State University graduate, was identified as one of the other chaperons missing and presumed killed. 

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims of this tragic accident,” said Trinice Sampson, a family spokeswoman. “Michael is unaccounted for and presumed dead.”

Myvett was traveling with his fiancee, who was identified by family members as Mattison Haywood. The two were engaged in Paris during the holidays, relatives said.

Haywood was also still missing, Myvett's family said.

The crash has sent shockwaves across the state, resonating particularly in Southern California, where more than two dozen schools said they had students on the trip. Nearly 24 hours after the crash, many were still trying to account for their students. 

The bus was one of three heading to Humboldt State for its Preview Plus program, which gives low-income and first-generation college students a free chance to visit the university. About 100 students typically attend the two-day session from the L.A. area, the university said.

About 5:40 p.m. Thursday, officials said they received the first call about the crash. By the time first responders arrived, authorities said, the bus was engulfed in flames.

Witnesses described a horrific scene as the teenagers kicked out windows to get out of the bus. Dozens were injured, including one man who witnesses said was on fire. The sound of the crash could be heard up to a quarter of a mile away, authorities said.

California Highway Patrol Lt. Scott Fredrick said it remained unclear whether the FedEx driver – who officials said was among those killed – had fallen asleep, whether his semi had some type of mechanical failure or whether there had been a collision with another vehicle in the moments before the bus was struck.

Fredrick said CHP investigators were being assisted by the National Transportation Safety Board, which sent a team that arrived at the remote Northern California scene Friday morning. Investigators would use  “sophisticated surveying and mapping equipment,” along with 3-D diagramming, to reconstruct the events leading up to the crash, he said.

Fredrick said investigators would also consider roadway and weather conditions. But he and others cautioned that it could take up to six months for the CHP to complete its report.

“The investigation itself … is a long, tedious process,” said Ruben Leal of the CHP. “We may not have some answers for months.”

Carpenter said 31 people were taken to seven hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to critical. Nine people were pronounced dead at the scene, and another died later of severe burns.

A Nissan Altima was also involved in the crash, authorities said, but it remained unclear how. The two occupants suffered what were described as minor to moderate injuries and were excepted to recover.

Parents rushed to Northern California hospitals and a Red Cross shelter where some of the surviving teenagers spent Thursday night. 

The family of one 17-year-old Riverside student said they had not heard from their daughter since the crash. Marisa Serrato was riding on one of the three buses headed to Humboldt State University to tour the campus, her family said. Her twin sister, Marisol, was riding on a separate bus and was uninjured.

On Friday, the girls' family headed north in hopes of learning what happened to the high school senior.

“We’ve called the hospitals,” said Serrato’s mother, who is also named Marisa. “They haven’t been able to tell us anything about my daughter.”

Marisa and Marisol Serrato both hoped to attend Humboldt State in the fall and were visiting the campus for the first time. After the crash, Marisol Serrato said she was uninjured but “devastated” by the lack of news about her sister.

The list of missing students also included two seniors, a boy and a girl, from Animo Inglewood, a charter school operated by Green Dot Public Schools. Their parents have traveled to the crash area to find out what they could, said Green Dot Chief Executive Marco Petruzzi.

A girl at another Green Dot campus, Animo Jackie Robinson, was taken to a hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.

“It’s a brutal day for us,” Petruzzi said. “Probably the most tragic day we’ve had. Right now our counselors are trying to help students get through the day.”

School officials said it has been difficult to determine which of their students, if any, were on the bus. Some schools said their students had been invited on the trip but later declined to go.

Ten students from Alliance Luskin College-Ready Academy were accepted to Humboldt State and had been invited on the tour, but none decided to go on the trip, said Chalio Medrano, principal of the South Los Angeles charter.

"We've been in contact with families since last night clarifying and also in communication with college counselors and verified that all of our students were at school yesterday," Medrano said.

One of the students accepted, Monica Rivera, said she received several emails from Humboldt State about attending the spring preview day, but the 17-year-old senior said she was too busy.

"I knew I wouldn't have time," Rivera said. "I was shocked thinking I could have been on that bus."

Students on the two buses that left from downtown L.A.'s Union Station were supposed to be divided into two groups: last names beginning with the letters A to L on one bus, M to Z on another, Humboldt State spokesman Frank Whitlatch said. But the teenagers "did what 17-year-olds do," and switched vehicles to sit with their friends.

L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy provided an updated list of 14 L.A. Unified campuses with students on the bus involved in the fatal crash. Deasy said he did not know if students from these schools were among the five killed.

“We’re very worried about the condition of a number of students,” he said in an interview, declining to elaborate further.

Officials from L.A. Unified, Humboldt State and the California State University system were among those who traveled to the area Friday, meeting with several of the students and their families at hospitals.

“The great irony here, the great sadness is these are the students California needs to be successful going forward,” Cal State Chancellor Timothy White said. Students “had their dream of going to Humboldt State taken away away by this tragic accident,” he said.

“The soul of the CSU has been cut deeply,” he said.

kate.mather@latimes.com

adolfo.flores@latimes.com

chris.megerian@latimes.com

ALSO:

Bus crash survivor recounts harrowing escape

California bus crash: 5 students among 10 killed; at least 30 injured

Aspiring TV producer mistakenly killed by deputies in West Hollywood

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Kathleen Sebelius, who oversaw flawed Obamacare rollout, resigns - Los Angeles Times

By Noam N. Levey and Christi Parsons

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WASHINGTON – Kathleen Sebelius, who helped guide the rocky and controversial rollout of President Obama’s landmark healthcare law, is stepping down as Health and Human Services secretary after about five years, according to a senior administration official.

In her place, the president plans to nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Sebelius was not pressured to resign, according to the administration official. But she leaves after presiding over the disastrous launch of the health law’s new online insurance marketplaces last fall. The failure threatened to unravel what was supposed to Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement and has endangered Democrats who face reelection in November.

The federal website, HealthCare.gov, was riddled with glitches that made it almost impossible for people to sign up for health insurance for weeks. Although the website has been repaired and enrollment has recovered strongly, the debacle continues to baffle many outside experts who have blamed weak leadership at the White House and the health agency that Sebelius heads.

Sebelius, a two-term Democratic governor of Kansas, was once seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party, but her department’s troubles with Obamacare led to calls for her resignation.

In testimony before Congress after the website’s flaws had drawn headlines, she said: “I am as frustrated and angry as anyone with the flawed launch of HealthCare.gov. So let me say directly to these Americans, you deserve better. I apologize. I'm accountable to you for fixing these problems. And I'm committed to earning your confidence back by fixing the site.”

Burwell is an alumni of the Clinton administration, where she worked as deputy director of the budget office from 1998 to 2001. She then worked for a decade at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, including as chief operating officer. She most recently headed the Wal-Mart Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Credited for her experience in and out of Washington, she was unanimously confirmed last year for the budget post, long considered one of the most important White House jobs.

She is almost certain to face opposition from congressional Republicans when she is nominated for health secretary, as GOP lawmakers remain focused on doing everything possible to derail the 2010 Affordable Care Act. But a change in the filibuster rules in the Senate will allow Democrats there to confirm her with a simple majority, obviating the need for any Republican votes.

noam.levey@latimes.com

Twitter: @noamlevey

christi.parsons@latimes.com

Twitter: @cparsons

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'Heartbleed Bug' puts Web security at risk - Los Angeles Times

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SAN FRANCISCO — The discovery of a significant flaw in software that was supposed to provide extra protection for thousands of websites has thrown the tech world into chaos as experts scrambled to understand the scope of the vulnerability.

On Tuesday, Tumblr, which is owned by Yahoo, became the largest website to disclose that it had been hit by the "Heartbleed Bug" and urged users to change not just the password for its site but for all others as well.

But signaling just how much uncertainty and confusion surrounds the glitch, security experts warned that such a gesture might actually be useless because if a site has not fixed the problem hackers could just as easily steal the new password.

Although security analysts wouldn't go as far as telling users to stay off the Internet completely, they said users should avoid doing anything sensitive like online banking. If it's necessary to go online, check to see whether a service has said whether they are affected or whether they have fixed the problem.

"The scope of this is immense," said Kevin Bocek, vice president of security strategy and threat intelligence for Venafi, a Salt Lake City cybersecurity company. "And the consequences are still scary. I've talked about this like a 'Mad Max' moment. It's a bit of anarchy right now. Because we don't know right now who has the keys and certificates on the Internet right now."

"Heartbleed Bug" is a vulnerability in something called OpenSSL, a technology used to provide encryption of an estimated 66% of all servers on the public Internet. OpenSSL is an open source code that is developed and maintained by a community of developers, rather than by a single company.

While such jargon is unfamiliar to average users, most people online have likely seen the green padlock icon in the address bar of their browser, followed by "https" that indicates that the OpenSSL added security has been enabled.

The vulnerability was discovered separately last week by Neel Mehta, a security researcher at Google, and a team of security engineers at Codenomicon, a security website that has since created a website with information about Heartbleed.

"Heartbleed is like finding a faulty car part used in nearly every make and model, but you can't recall the Internet and all the data you put out on it," said Jonathan Sander, vice president of research and technology for Stealthbits Technologies, a cybersecurity firm in Hawthorne, NJ.

It appears the bug was introduced into OpenSSL by a simple programming mistake that then got pushed out as websites around the world updated the version of OpenSSL they were running.

After the discovery last week, news spread quickly around the Web on Tuesday as the implications became clearer. As Tumblr made its announcement, security experts found numerous "exploits" or simple pieces of software widely available online that any hacker could grab and use to attack sites left vulnerable by Heartbleed.

By running such exploits, a hacker could in just a few seconds download countless emails, passwords, user IDs and much other personal information.

"It's a very simple script," said Chris Eng, vice president of research at application security testing firm Veracode. "And there's still a lot of websites out there that are vulnerable."

An updated version of OpenSSL has been issued, and sites can use that to fix the bug. In addition to updating OpenSSL, sites will need to update many pieces of their security protocols known as keys and certificates that help them confirm the identity of users.

But Internet users are now facing a dilemma: How do they know they can trust a site? Because hackers may have gotten so much personal and website security information, experts are worried they can use that to create fake copies or "spoofs" of real sites that will induce users to disclose even more information.

"Avoid things like online banking and avoid sensitive sites if you're not sure," said Andrew Storms, director of DevOps at CloudPassage. "Some people will see it as overkill. But I think that's the simplest guidance. If you can hold off doing something online for a couple days, then you should."

chris.obrien@latimes.com

salvador.rodriguez@latimes.com

Twitter: @obrien, @sal19

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Obama issues orders seeking equal pay for women - Los Angeles Times

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WASHINGTON — President Obama used his executive power and a hot-button issue to try to stoke support from a key election-year constituency Tuesday, as he issued two directives aimed at ensuring federal contractors pay women as much as men for equal work.

Surrounding himself with female supporters at the White House, Obama signed an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from retaliating against employees who talk about how much money they make. Advocates say secrecy about salaries is a major contributor to the gap in average pay between male and female workers in the United States, which the White House says means women make 77 cents for every dollar earned by men.

The president also ordered contractors to report data to the government showing the compensation paid to employees by gender and race.

Democrats have repeatedly tried and failed to pass legislation imposing similar rules on most employers, and they are picking up the effort again this week in a party-wide push tied to Tuesday's Equal Pay Day. The proposed Paycheck Fairness Act is expected to be put to a vote for the third time in the Senate on Wednesday, but is not expected to overcome Republican opposition.

Still, Democrats see the legislation as an effective tool to rally women, particularly middle- and low-income working women, whose votes they'll need to retain their Senate majority in November. Democrats typically win a majority of female voters in general elections, but are trying to avoid a repeat of the 2010 midterm shellacking that saw many of those voters either stay home or shift parties.

As he signed the executive actions Tuesday, Obama returned to the message he honed when he won over female voters in 2012.

"America should be a level playing field, a fair race for everybody, a place where anybody who's willing to work hard has a chance to get ahead," Obama said, mocking Republicans as trapped in another era.

"I don't know why you would resist the idea that women should be paid the same as men, and then deny that that's not always happening out there," the president said. "If Republicans in Congress want to prove me wrong, if they want to show that they in fact do care about women being paid the same as men, then show me. They can start tomorrow. They can join us in this, the 21st century."

Republicans noted that federal law already barred workplace gender discrimination and argued that additional rules would limit women's choices and burden employers. They turned to female lawmakers Tuesday to make the case.

"Let's focus on those policies that are actually going to move forward on a jobs plan that will create a higher paycheck, more opportunities and that opportunity for a better life, which we all want," said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) "Two out of three small businesses right now are being started by women. ... So women understand the direct impact of the policies and the impact that they have on them."

Republican senators offered potential amendments to the Democratic bill to show they are on the side of women. One measure, led by Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, echoes the president's action by updating current law with a provision that would prevent retaliation against workers who discuss their salaries. Another, backed by Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, would allow workers to take time off instead of overtime pay.

"This isn't just a way to help workers. It's a way to especially help working mothers," McConnell said.

Democrats' cheering of Equal Pay Day was muffled by a debate over the size and root causes of the pay gap. Some economists and commentators take issue with the White House statistic, saying it exaggerates the gap by looking at women's salaries in the aggregate and not accounting for differences in education level, hours worked or experience.

When the salaries for White House staff members are analyzed the same way, women turn out to make 88 cents for every dollar earned by men, according to a recent study conducted by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. The analysis of 2013 payroll data found that the 228 female employees in the Obama White House were paid a median annual salary of $65,000 this year, compared with $73,729 for the 231 male employees.

Press Secretary Jay Carney said the numbers reflected the fact that more women than men hold lower-level positions in the White House. Women and men with equal duties make equal pay, he said.

"But at every level, here at the White House, you're paid the same for the work that you do, regardless of your gender," Carney said, noting that Obama has several senior-level female advisors. Carney said the 88-cent figure was "not 100, but it is better than the national average."

Republicans seized on the numbers as evidence that the Democrats were trying to enforce a double standard.

"Why is the White House judged by one standard and the rest of the country by another?" Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski wrote in a memo to reporters. "There's a disparity not because female engineers are making less than male engineers at the same company with comparable experience. The disparity exists because a female social worker makes less than a male engineer — just as a female engineer would out-earn a male social worker. The difference isn't because of their genders; it's because of their jobs."

kathleen.hennessey@latimes.com

Lisa Mascaro and Michael A. Memoli in the Washington bureau contributed to this report.

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