Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Chairman, based on the debates and discussions we have had in this Chamber, I have come to the conclusion that my friends on the other side of the aisle believe that $7.25 is enough to raise a family on in America. That is the current Federal minimum wage.

Since we haven't had any ability to change it, to move it up, I assume that they assume that it is good enough for people, but I can't imagine that they think $2.13 is enough, but that is the Federal minimum wage for tip workers in America today. That is the Federal minimum wage for tip workers, and it is an appalling condition, and it should be an outrage for all of us.

Mr. Chairman, 3.3 million Americans are trying to make it on $2.13 an hour, plus tips; and 75 percent of those, Mr. Chairman, are women.

What does it translate to? What does it all mean? It means that millions of Americans go to work every day and are forced to interview every time they serve a customer for their money. Every time they meet a new customer and take an order, they have to do a tryout or an interview to see if they are going to get paid. It is wrong, and we shouldn't tolerate it in this society. Tip workers are twice as likely as other workers to fall below the poverty line and three times as likely to rely on food stamps to close the gap between what they are paid and what they have to survive on.

Mr. Chairman, the companies that pay them these tip wages in many cases are relying on us, the Federal Government, through the food stamp program, to make up the wages that they will not pay. At least we should make them pay their own freight for their own workers. People don't want to go to food stamps, but they need to, and the Federal Government helps them by setting food stamps.

What if the employers themselves were required to pay a better wage? Tip workers are likely to experience wage theft. From 2010 to 2012, the Department of Labor conducted investigations of full-service restaurants and found violations in nearly all, including tip violations. A tip violation might be when an employer refuses to ``top up'' the pay to ensure that they are getting at least $7.25 when tips are low. Tip violations could also include making employees do work that doesn't earn tips, like cleaning or cooking, but still paying them $2.13 an hour. It happens, and it shouldn't happen.

If we lifted the minimum wage to $10.10 for all tip workers, 700,000 tip workers would be lifted out of poverty--half of whom would be people of color--and $12.7 billion in more wages would be pumped into the economy.

Mr. Chair, in February, President Obama signed an executive order requiring Federal contractors, including those with contracts to provide concessions like restaurants, to pay $10.10.

No one who works full-time should have to live in poverty. I urge adoption of the amendment, and I urge all Members of this body to at least demand that we don't have to make up wages that are not paid in the form of government supports.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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