[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 22 (Friday, February 3, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1165]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                            WORK SHOULD PAY

  (Mrs. SCHROEDER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, the message for today is that work 
should pay.
  I proudly stood with the President of the United States when he said 
we must raise the minimum wage.
  Right now, if you work on the minimum wage and you are lucky enough 
to have a job all year long and work 8 hours a day, you can bring home 
$8,500. That is tough. Imagine how those people feel. And 60 percent of 
them are women trying to support their families. Imagine how they feel 
when they hear Congressmen making $133,000 saying they cannot afford to 
live in Washington and they must live in their offices. Not only that, 
they get a tax advantage for living in Washington. Really this ought to 
be a bill that we pass by unanimous consent.
  That is the least we can do for the working men and women of America. 
If we can raise this up, at least the average family will make $10,500 
for full-time work, and that is very important.
  Make work pay. That is the message of the day.

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