[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 8, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1376]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               MR. ARMEY'S WARDROBE AND THE MINIMUM WAGE

  (Mr. GUTIERREZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I do not mean to harangue the 
distinguished major leader. However, I heard Mr. Armey say that he 
would fight an increase in the minimum wage with ``every fiber in his 
body.''
  Well, I want him also to consider the fibers on his body: the fibers 
that make up his shirt, his suit, his socks, his tie.
  If his clothes were made here in USA, then I would bet that some of 
those fibers were sewn together--by workers earning the minimum wage.
  As public servants, we should be willing to give our constituents the 
shirts off our back.
  Instead, in Mr. Armey's world, we take the shirts that they make for 
us, put them on our backs, and then tell them that they are not even 
worth the $4.25 an hour that they got making that shirt. Mr. Armey may 
be the majority leader in this House, but he does not speak for the 
majority of Americans, most of whom want us to honor our workers with a 
decent, liable wage.
  We have all heard the story of the ``Emperor who had no clothes.'' 
Well, if it were not for minimum wage employees, we would hear the 
story--the true story--of the majority leader who had no clothes.
  Let us keep that in mind as we debate the minimum wage.

                          ____________________