[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 57 (Tuesday, April 30, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H4132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CONGRESS SHOULD BRING MINIMUM WAGE TO VOTE

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I would urge Speaker Gingrich and the 
Republican leadership to let us vote on an increase in the minimum 
wage. In my State of New Jersey the minimum wage was increased to $5.05 
an hour, two Princeton University economists, David Card and Alan 
Kruger, surveyed patterns in fast food restaurants in New Jersey and 
Pennsylvania after the minimum wage went into effect. The result 
suggested a moderate hike, much like the one President Clinton is 
proposing, has actually increased total employment.
  The reason is that minimum wage earners do not have the ability to 
save. They spend their money on basic necessities, and raising the 
minimum wage put more money into our local economy. The money was spent 
to purchase more goods, adding eventually to an increase in profits for 
our local businesses. The fast food industry that Card and Kruger 
studied found most of the people earning the minimum wage were the same 
people who used that increase to in fact buy more fast food.
  So the bottom line is a higher minimum wage increased economic 
activities in New Jersey. It is supported by the President and 
supported by most Members in both the House and the Senate, and the 
leadership of the Republican Party should bring it up for a vote now.

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