[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 8, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1438]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      INCREASING THE MINIMUM WAGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Alabama [Mr. Hilliard] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HILLIARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the issue of 
increasing the minimum wage.
  We the Members of the United States Congress have a moral obligation 
simply to ensure that the working men and women of this country are 
granted the ability to live on the wages that they earn. We are 
speaking about Americans who have chosen to live and to work and to try 
to raise a family.
  I tell my colleagues we are not talking about the wealthy, we are not 
talking about the corporate executives. We are talking about people who 
are common like I am, like you are, people who should have the 
opportunity to live the American dream.
  The ones who end up losing, of course, when the minimum wage does not 
keep up with the rising costs of inflation are the real Americans. They 
are the people that make this country as strong as it is today. These 
are the men and women who have rejected welfare, who have rejected 
subsidies from this Government like the corporate executives and the 
farmers. These are men and women who work 8-hour shifts every day, 40 
hours a week. These are men and women who truly are the real working 
poor, the real working Americans. These are the men and women who work 
sometimes two jobs in order to provide their children with an 
education. Yes, Mr. Speaker, sometimes they work two jobs in order to 
meet the minimum necessities of living. Yes, sometimes they work just 
to be able to put food on the table, to provide a comfortable place for 
their families. They work two jobs, 12 hours a day, sometimes 16 hours 
a day.
  We must not forget these real Americans.

                              {time}  2100

  They have committed themselves to work within the system, and they 
give all that they have to make sure that their families are taken care 
of. We should not penalize them.
  But today's minimum wage is not sufficient for the needs of today's 
families. At the current rate, these families can barely make it. If 
the minimum wage had increased with inflation after the year 1970, the 
current rate would be $5.54 an hour. That is still low, but it is a 
long ways from where we are now. It would give them the opportunity to 
make sure that their children have the right, and perhaps have the 
opportunity, to live the American dream.
  While the wages have lagged behind the times, minimum wage earners 
have decreased especially when you consider the erosion caused by 
inflation. Between the years 1979 and 1992, the number of working poor 
people have increased 44 percent. These are people who live below the 
poverty level, not because they are on welfare, not because they do not 
work, but because they do not earn a sufficient amount of money to be 
classified by this government above the level of poverty.
  Yes, we recognize that they make enough money to live below the 
poverty level. That is a shame and a disgrace, especially for a country 
as wealthy as this. We must address these issues. We must raise the 
minimum wage to a livable level. We must index the rate for inflation 
so that we will take care of these injustices now and make sure that it 
will not occur ever again in the future, plus it will save us the 
choice of constantly coming back and trying to keep up with inflation 
for those real Americans who work every day.
  All of the hard-working men and women of this country should be able 
to live without the woeful poverty on their doorsteps daily. We are 
talking about men and women who are gainfully employed. They are those 
who are trying to live and, yes, sometimes they barely make it.
  Well, I say to those of you who criticize the welfare state, I say to 
those of you who criticize those who have not had the opportunity to 
live the American dream, that we must realize that we cause many of 
their problems. Since 1970, there have been constant increases in local 
taxes and, yes, in taxes that we in the United States Congress have 
passed. We have taken money from them.
  Since 1990, we have taken more than $500 billion. The only way we can 
make up for it is for us to help the working Americans. Mr. Speaker, 
today we must commit ourselves to raise the minimum wage.


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