[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 22 (Friday, February 3, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


               TAX CUTS NEEDED, NOT MINIMUM-WAGE INCREASE

  (Mr. LONGLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LONGLEY. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about the minimum wage. In 
the last year I have been talking about the fact that in my State of 
Maine if I go out to a store to buy a pack of cigarettes, I will pay 
three taxes. If I go out and buy a can of beer, I will pay four taxes. 
But if I do the right thing and go out and create a job for a working 
person at the minimum wage in this country, I am going to pay or manage 
nine different taxes.
  I am tired of the nonsense we are hearing about the minimum wage and 
how we can increase it and how we are going to do wonderful things for 
people. I want to focus on the fact that those nine taxes at the 
minimum wage exceed $1 an hour.

                              {time}  1100
  I think that is outrageous. When I talk to young people in my 
district, it is bad enough that many of them feel that with the payroll 
tax burden that is on their jobs, they are more likely to see a UFO 
than to get a Social Security check when they retire. It is bad enough 
that they are worried about whether they are going to even receive any 
benefits whatsoever, now they are going to be losing their jobs.
  The issue is not what is going on in the private sector. The issue is 
a government that is taking $1 an hour out of the minimum wage. I think 
that is the real issue, and that is where the focus needs to be in the 
rest of this session.

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