[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 22 (Friday, February 3, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1166]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           RAISE MINIMUM WAGE

  (Mr. WARD asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of President 
Clinton's proposal to raise the minimum wage by just 45 cents an hour 
over each of the next 2 years. Those of you watching today need to 
notice that while we Democrats are talking about helping working 
families, speaker after speaker on the other side stands silent on the 
increase in the minimum wage. They speak of anything but. That is 
because with inflation, the minimum wage has decreased almost 50 cents 
since 1991, and is currently only three-quarters of what it was in 
1979.
  How can we encourage people to get off of welfare when we do not 
provide them a decent wage? How can we say that we reward work over 
welfare when we do not provide the means by which an individual can 
achieve this goal?
  Mr. Speaker, I applaud President Clinton's efforts, and I encourage 
my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this proposed 
increase.


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