[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 50 (Thursday, April 18, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H3586]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE NOW

  (Mr. LEWIS of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, the Speaker of the House has 
reportedly said that the House can ``no longer duck'' a vote on the 
minimum wage. It's about time, Mr. Speaker. Why have you been ducking 
for so long.
  The minimum wage is at a near 40-year low in real terms. People 
earning the minimum wage deserve the right to a livable wage. No one 
can live on $4.25 an hour, much less support a family.
  Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey has said he will fight an 
increase in the minimum wage with ``every fiber in his being.'' While 
corporate CEO's earn 212 times the wage of the average worker, 
Republicans would deny the poorest workers in America a modest increase 
in the minimum wage. This is not right, it is not fair, and it is not 
just.
  Stop the stonewalling, Mr. Speaker. Let's raise the minimum wage now. 
People deserve the right to earn a livable wage.

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