[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 24, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H3737]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SUPPORT A CLEAN MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE

  (Ms. McKINNEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I sent this letter to my 
colleague from Georgia, Speaker Gingrich, urging him to hold a vote on 
a clean minimum wage increase before the Memorial Day district work 
period.
  And today, Mr. Speaker, I would like to reiterate on the floor of the 
House what I stated to Speaker Gingrich in this letter.
  In the letter I said:

       The false link you are creating between a minimum wage 
     increase and a reduction in worker protections, is little 
     more than a cynical ploy to convince people earning $8,400 a 
     year that less safe working conditions are the price they 
     must pay for a living wage. This Machiavellian approach is 
     insensitive to the needs of thousands of working Georgians 
     who struggle just to put food on the table. As of 1994, 11.9% 
     of Georgia's workforce was earning between $4.25 and $5.14 an 
     hour. A 90-cent increase would help these nearly 362,000 
     people make ends meet.

  Once again, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleague from the Sixth District 
of Georgia to permit a vote on a clean minimum wage increase.

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