Providing for Consideration of H.R. 3865, Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act of 2014; Providing for Consideration of H.R. 2804, All Economic Regulations are Transparent Act of 2014; and Providing for Consideration of Motions to Suspend the Rules
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rule because it needs an amendment. I rise today in order to ask, when the motion on the previous question to end the debate is brought up, that we vote ``no'' so that at that point an amendment can be introduced.
If that possibility is available, I would like to bring up the provisions of H.R. 1010, which will provide a long overdue increase in the minimum wage. The bills that we are considering today are just distractions from the issues that are most important. We need to be addressing the problems that people are having.
Mr. Speaker, today's families are struggling to pay for basic needs, such as housing, health care, groceries, transportation. Someone working full time at a minimum wage job today only earns about $14,000 a year. At that Federal minimum wage today of $7.25, a parent working full time, year round, doesn't earn enough to get above the poverty level. When I say a ``parent,'' that is because studies have been done and have shown that the average minimum wage worker is 35 years old;
Raising the minimum wage not only increases workers' income and reduces turnover, it stimulates the economy. That is because people earning the minimum wage are spending every dime that they get, thus helping the economy. We have heard fears about possible job losses, but the effect of an increased minimum wage on jobs has been studied for decades, and these studies have proven that no job loss can be expected with a modest increase in the minimum wage.
We have a clear choice. We can choose to require a fair, living wage so that people can afford food and housing for their families, or we as taxpayers can be left picking up the tab through increased public assistance when they cannot pay their bills, and we can be left with a stagnant economy that is not as improved as it would be with an increased minimum wage.
So I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' when the previous question is moved. I also encourage them to support legislation to increase the minimum wage so that we can improve the quality of life for millions of Americans and improve the economy in the process.
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