[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 22 (Friday, February 3, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1164]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       INCREASING THE MINIMUM WAGE SHOULD NOT BE A PARTISAN ISSUE

  (Mr. RICHARDSON asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, Democrats finally have a defining issue, 
increasing the minimum wage, but it should not be a partisan issue. If 
Republicans want a cut in the capital gains tax for those most 
fortunate Americans, surely they can support a modest increase in the 
minimum wage for the average worker. We need to move Americans from the 
underclass to the middle class, and this is mainly a women's issue. 
Women are 60 percent of those receiving minimum wage, and many of these 
women are heads of households. They deserve better.
  Mr. Speaker, the last election was about putting money in people's 
pockets, and what we are talking about is $4.75 an hour the first year 
and $5.25 the next year.
  Let us stop the bellyaching about losing jobs, and let us do the 
right thing.

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