Raise the Wage Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, let's be clear. Since Franklin Roosevelt, the Federal Government has been increasing the Federal wage.

Don't let them get away with this hogwash about what we do and what we don't do here.

Wages for the top 1 percent have grown 150 percent since 1979.

Wages for middle-class families and working families have stagnated. Their wages do not keep up with the skyrocketing costs of healthcare, prescription drugs, childcare, housing, and a college education.

This is the single biggest economic challenge of our time. So, today, full-time, year-round work at the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 leaves a family of three below the Federal poverty line. It is unacceptable, because working people have more than earned a raise.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, if the minimum wage increased equal to the increases in workers' productivity, it would be more than $20 an hour.

Congress needs to make this right. Clearly, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle do not respect the work of 34 million Americans. They don't respect the dignity of the work that these folks do.

It is our job. Let us pass the Raise the Minimum Wage Act. Working people are doing their jobs. Let us do ours.

I include in the Record a letter from the AFT, the American Federation of Teachers. American Federation of Teachers, Washington, DC, July 17, 2019. Hon. Robert ``Bobby'' Scott, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Rep. Scott: On behalf of the 1.7 million members of the American Federation of Teachers, I thank you for introducing the Raise the Wage Act of 2019 (H.R. 582). By raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour by 2024, H.R. 582 would empower millions of struggling Americans to make ends meet and support their families.

The federal minimum wage was last raised to $7.25 per hour in 2009, and, over the past decade, the cost of living has increased at a pace that significantly exceeds the average earnings of a minimum wage worker. Raising the wage is a matter of economic and social justice because a $15 minimum wage would lift millions out of poverty, help close the racial and gender wage gaps, and help reverse decades of growing pay inequality.

The Economic Policy Institute estimates that increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2024 would give more than 1 in 3 working women a raise, including 43 percent of African American working women, 38 percent of working Latinas, 32 percent of white working women, and 20 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander working women.

Of particular note for the AFT, our research tells us that one-fifth of educators and one-fourth of healthcare workers would get a raise under H.R. 582--including but not limited to preschool teachers, who on average earn $13.84 per hour; substitute teachers, who average $13.47 per hour; child care workers, who earn an average of $10.18 per hour; and home healthcare workers, who on average receive $10.87 per hour. With higher wages, more Americans would be better able to afford food, clothing, housing and other necessities, which, in turn, would support local businesses and economic growth.

Too many hardworking families in the United States are being forced to depend on poverty-level wages. Congress can help strengthen our economy and lift families out of poverty by raising the federal minimum wage.

Thank you for your introduction of H.R. 582. Sincerely, Randi Weingarten, President.

Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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