[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 58 (Wednesday, May 1, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H4309]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            RAISING MINIMUM WAGE WILL DESTROY SMALL BUSINESS

  (Mr. WALKER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I have been very interested over the last 
several days to listen to Members of the Democratic Party telling us 
how committed they are to raising the minimum wage, and it is very 
interesting because one would wonder why, when the President of the 
United States himself has said this is a bad idea, and when Members of 
his administration have said this is a terrible way to treat poor 
people, why the Democrats in the House of Representatives are so 
insistent upon it.
  Now we find out why. It is because they are doing the bidding of the 
union bosses who are making absolutely certain that they get this kind 
of debate going, because the union bosses have contract negotiations 
coming up this fall, and they would like to see the Federal Government 
raise wages by 20 percent so that they can use that as the base of what 
they do in their negotiations.
  And guess what? Every American will suffer as a result of that 
because that will set off an inflationary spiral that will be a tax on 
every American family, but particularly low income families. If my 
colleagues think that kind of callous disregard of the American family 
is a good idea, then listen intently to the Democrats, who claim they 
want to raise the minimum wage.
  The fact is in raising the minimum wage what they are doing is 
undermining small business in the country, and they are undermining the 
basic income of the American family. It is a shame and they should be 
called for what they are doing.

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