OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007

Date: Jan. 10, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Unemployed and Low-Income


FAIR MINIMUM WAGE ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - January 10, 2007)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2, the Fair Minimum Wage Act. I congratulate Speaker PELOSI, Majority Leader HOYER and Chairman MILLER for their recognition that this is a critical issue to our economy and for their success in making a real difference for families across America.

The Fair Minimum Wage Act will raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over 2 years. This pay raise is the first in more than 9 years and will affect 13 million Americans.

This change is long overdue. Currently minimum wage employees working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, earn only $10,700 a year--$6,000 below the poverty line for a family of three. The inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage is 31 percent lower today than it was in 1979, and in real dollars a $5.15 an hour minimum wage is worth just $4.75. If the wage had just kept pace with inflation since 1968 when it was a $1.60 an hour, minimum wage would have been $8.46 last year.

While in the Majority, Republicans repeatedly blocked this increase with the argument that fairness for our lowest paid workers will hurt small business. However, this summer, 650 economists, including 5 Nobel laureates, announced their support for increasing the minimum wage and their view that these arguments against such an increase are simply not valid.

Mr. Speaker, while denying this needed wage increase, Members of Congress have received pay raises of over $30,000. In addition, a recent study estimated that CEOs of top companies make in 2 hours what a minimum wage worker makes in a year. This inequity is not only an economic issue--it is a moral issue. American full-time, full-year workers should not be forced to raise their families in poverty.

A part of the hope and promise of America is that if you work hard, you will succeed. I am proud that the Democrats today are helping to make that dream a reality for millions of Americans.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

http://thomas.loc.gov/

arrow_upward