[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 65 (Friday, May 10, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H4805]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  SAY ``YES'' TO A DECENT MINIMUM WAGE

  (Mr. GUTIERREZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, my Republican friends love to talk about 
hard work. Why, from welfare to immigration, they can fit words of 
praise for working Americans into just about any debate.
  If this were a debate contest, they could win awards for all their 
fine rhetoric. But rhetoric will not pay the real bills of real people. 
Nice rhetoric might win someone a sound bite on the evening news, but 
it will not send any kids to college, or pay for a mortgage, or cover 
the doctor bills.
  And unfortunately, my Republican friends are much better at rhetoric 
than rewarding hard work.
  Well, I believe it is time to stop talking and start acting for the 
American people. It is simple. This House should say ``yes'' to a 
decent minimum wage for hard-working Americans. You see, they do not 
have time to make nice speeches about hard work, because they are too 
busy doing it. It is time for my colleagues to back up their empty 
words. Cut out the rhetoric. Instead, let us reward the hard work of 
the American people. Pass a livable minimum wage.

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