[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 21, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H5309-H5310]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE MINIMUM WAGE

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, this week a vote has been scheduled on 
raising the minimum wage. Finally.

[[Page H5310]]

  For months the Democrats have taken to the floor of the House asking 
the Republican leadership to schedule this vote on behalf of 
hardworking Americans and their families.
  And for the same number of months--the Republican leadership has 
refused. In some instances, even denying that working families trying 
to get by on $4.25 an hour exist. Easy for them to say when you 
consider that since Speaker Newt Gingrich's April 17 promise to at 
least hold hearings on the minimum wage issue--34 days ago--he has 
received $15,975.24 of the taxpayers' money.
  Compare that to a minimum-wage worker who earns $4.25 an hour, works 
40 hours a week for 52 weeks and makes a grand total of $8,840.00 for 
that entire year of hard work. In a month of dawdling, the Speaker has 
made almost twice as much as a minimum-wage worker makes in a whole 
year.
  Let's pass a minimum wage increase now, it's exactly what over 80 
percent of American want us to do. They understand that this is simply 
the right approach to take if we are going to honor work, protect 
families and fight for children.

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