[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 165 (Tuesday, October 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H10697]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 AN INCREASE TO MINIMUM WAGE WILL LIST WORKERS OUT OF POVERTY AND OFF 
                                WELFARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas, Mr. Gene Green, is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight in support of 
the minimum wage increase, and later this evening the gentleman from 
New York, Major Owens, has organized a special order in support of the 
minimum wage. I join my colleagues from the Committee on Economic and 
Educational Opportunities in my support for an increase in the minimum 
wage. Fifty seven years ago today the Congress first approved a minimum 
wage of 25 cents.
  This anniversary finds us with mixed emotions. On the one hand, we 
are thankful that the Congress recognized the need to guarantee a 
livable wage. On the other hand, we recognize that millions of people 
earn at or below the minimum wage and that the last increase in the 
minimum wage occurred on April 1, 1991. As if this was not enough, the 
real value of the minimum wage has been on a fairly steady decline for 
the past 15 years. Today, the minimum wage has fallen 45 cents in real 
value since its 1991 increase. I am afraid that if the majority party 
has its way, we may never see an increase in the minimum wage.
  Many people, writing or speaking on either side of this issue, quote 
from 57 years of studies on how the increase of the minimum wage 
affects employment, wages and the economy. There are studies on both 
sides.
  My contention is we should base the argument on the facts and not 
theory. Based on my experience, real life is never constant nor 
completely equal.
  First, the idea that an increase in the minimum wage could lead to 
increased numbers of welfare recipients is simply not correct. In fact, 
the opposite is true. Today, a full-time minimum wage worker is paid 
$8,800 a year.
  The U.S. Census reports that the average family in my Houston 
district is 3.2 people. According to the census guidelines published in 
the Federal Register [February 9, 1995], the 1995 Federal poverty level 
for a family of three is $12,590. Using these facts, the math is 
simple. A full-time minimum wage worker supporting a family of three 
will make almost $4,000 less than the Federal poverty level.
  However, with an increase in the minimum wage to $5.15, and figuring 
in their maximum earned income tax credit, which was passed by 
the Democratic Congress, this same family would be $1,500 above the 
poverty rate and off welfare. Let me repeat that. Off welfare.

  It is also argued that the minimum wage is a wage for lower- to 
middle-class teenagers and is, therefore, an entry level wage. While 
this may have been so in years past, the Federal Bureau of Labor 
Statistics estimates that more than 4 million Americans earn at or 
below the minimum wage. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
current minimum-wage earners are two-thirds adult, with over 50 percent 
being 26 or older, while 62 percent are women. The minimum wage is no 
longer just for teenagers.
  Finally, the argument is made that raising the minimum wage would 
lead many employers to use more efficient machines, to relocate their 
factories, or to use part-time and temporary workers. Statistics show 
that minimum-wage earners, due to their lack of skills, work harder and 
longer hours to compensate for that shortcoming. I am not advocating 
the position that employers are unfeeling, but we must all face the 
fact that most employers, with some exceptions, are driven by the 
bottom line and not the betterment of society.
  One recent study between New Jersey, which raised their minimum wage, 
and Pennsylvania, which did not, showed no job loss and only a very 
slight increase in the cost of a fast food meal. I find it very 
confusing when the majority argues the minimum wage increase will cause 
job loss by increasing or continuing farm subsidies is never given to 
the same rhetoric. Both the farm subsidies and the minimum wage provide 
a level at which the producer, either farm produce or labor, can earn a 
profit.
  Americans need an increase in the minimum wage, because it will lift 
them out of poverty, it will give them a living wage, but more 
importantly, it will get them off of welfare. Instead of concentrating 
all of their efforts on tax-cuts for the wealthy. the majority should 
act to provide a minimum wage that will lift workers out of poverty and 
off the welfare rolls.

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