[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 24, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H3738]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       AMERICA'S WORKING FAMILIES NEED AN INCREASED WORKING WAGE

  (Mr. FAZIO of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Speaker, when Franklin D. Roosevelt 
first proposed a national minimum wage, he described it as a ``fair 
day's pay for a fair day's work.'' Now, 50 years later, the minimum 
wage has plummeted to its lowest value ever and its purchasing power 
has fallen to a 40-year low. On an annual income of $8,400 a year, 
paying the bills and keeping food on the table is a daily challenge for 
minimum wage workers.
  The 90-cent increase proposed by the President and Democrats in 
Congress would make the minimum wage a living wage. An extra 90 cents 
an hour would pay for 7 months of groceries, a year of health care 
costs, 9 months of utility bills, or 4 months of housing.
  Contrary to Republican rhetoric, the average minimum wage worker is 
not a teenager looking for a little extra cash. She is a working 
mother, often the only wage earner in her family.
  Let us not load up a minimum wage increase with all sorts of special 
breaks and goodies that would cause the President to veto the bill.
  America's working families need an increased working wage, 
protections for their pensions, an effective education for their 
children, and affordable health care. Is that too much to ask?
  Let us start by raising the minimum wage.

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