[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 53 (Tuesday, April 23, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H3668]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     LET US ADJUST THE MINIMUM WAGE TO $5.15 PER HOUR OVER 2 YEARS

  (Mr. STUPAK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, one of the issues which Congress must 
periodically address is the adjusting of the level of minimum wage. I 
did not say raise the minimum wage, I said adjust the minimum wage. The 
last adjustment of the minimum wage dollars took place in 1991. At that 
time the minimum wage was adjusted from $3.80 to the current level of 
$4.25. Despite that adjustment of 45 cents, the actual buying power of 
basic hourly compensation is estimated to have fallen by 50 cents 
because of inflation. In fact, the minimum wage is now 29-percent lower 
than it was in 1979 and, left unchanged, its real value will be at a 
40-year low by January. In the absence of any kind of automatic cost-
of-living adjustment, let us take the necessary step to bring this 
basic entry-level wage up to where it needs to be today.
  In the most simple way, we can positively affect the lives of 
millions of working Americans. Let us approve an adjustment in the 
minimum wage to $5.15 per hour over the next 2 years.

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