[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 22 (Friday, February 3, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H1162-H1163]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              DEMOCRATS WILL FIGHT FOR A FAIR MINIMUM WAGE

  (Mr. GEPHARDT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, over these past 2 years, President Clinton 
and the Democratic Party have been fighting for a single fundamental 
goal: To raise the standard of living of America's working families. 
Everything else is secondary to that goal. And if you are one of the 
millions of Americans who try to support a family on the minimum wage, 
your real wages have plummeted by almost a third since 1979.
  How can you raise a family on $8,500 a year? That is why it is time 
to raise the minimum wage by 90 cents to lift up those who have been 
falling behind, to make work pay more than welfare, because too often 
that is just not the case today. We know that a minimum 
[[Page H1163]] wage increase will not cost us jobs. Research shows that 
it creates jobs. And to the Speaker, who says this will widen the gap 
between American wages and those in Mexico and the Third World, I say: 
Do we want to raise the world's wages up or just drag ourselves down?
  Republican Leader Armey not only opposes the
   increase, he wants to demolish the minimum wage altogether.

  To the Republicans lower wages and fewer benefits are just money in 
the bank for American business. Never mind that people are suffering 
while profits soar.
  This should not be a partisan issue. This is about our standard of 
living. The American people want this increase by an overwhelming 
margin, and Democrats are going to fight to give it to them because it 
is right for our economy and it is right for the hard-working families 
who are the heart of our party and the heart of our country.

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