[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 53 (Tuesday, April 23, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H3666-H3667]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            LET US PASS AN INCREASE IN THE MINIMUM WAGE NOW

  (Mr. RICHARDSON asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, what issue is supported by 85 percent of 
the American people? What issue is supported by 61 percent of 
Republican voters? Increasing the minimum wage.
  So why do we not do it cleanly, without amendments that will clutter 
the issue?
  Mr. Speaker, the last vote to increase the minimum wage occurred in 
1989, and due to inflation much of this increase has been eroded. Who 
does an increase in the minimum wage help? Twelve million Americans. 
Sixty percent of these are adults over 25 years old; mainly women.
  Mr. Speaker, this is not a teenager-plus issue. It is an issue that 
affects all Americans.
  Twelve million Americans would benefit from an increase to $5.15 an 
hour, including 100,000 New Mexico workers.
  Raising the minimum wage is a critical step in moving people from 
welfare to work. Someone can make more on welfare than they can by 
working right now. Is $8,400 a year sufficient to help a family? The 
answer is ``no,'' Mr. Speaker.
  Let us end the politics, let us pass a minimum wage bill. Let us move 
on to health care. Let us leave a lot of these issues that need to be 
done uncluttered with many amendments. Let us pass an increase in the 
minimum wage now.

[[Page H3667]]



              CRIME: A SERIOUS ISSUE IN OUR COUNTRY TODAY

  (Mrs. CUBIN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute).
  Mrs. CUBIN. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about a very serious issue in 
our country today--crime. With all of the freedoms we enjoy in our 
country today, if we as citizens do not have confidence in our judicial 
system to keep the criminals off the streets, we do not have total 
freedom, because we will always be looking over our shoulders or will 
be too scared to participate in social activities outside of our homes.
  Many, many people feel this way today. And who can blame them--when 
they read stories about Clinton-appointed judges who side with the 
criminals and blame society. Like the Clinton judge who insisted that 
the killer had ``socially redeeming values,'' even though he stabbed 
his victim repeatedly, shot him twice, and laughed at the victim while 
he pled for his life.
  This is wrong. Our justice system should protect the rights of crime 
victims--not invent newer and more expansive rights for criminal 
defendants. Our justice system should distribute justice, not liberal 
social experiments that coddle criminals.
  We need to appoint judges who represent and understand America's 
values.

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