[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 73 (Wednesday, May 22, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H5387]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            GIVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WHAT THEY NEED: A RAISE

  (Mr. VENTO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, this GOP minimum wage bill is a hoax; it is 
really indecent. All year long the Republican House and Senate have 
refused to raise the minimum wage, even to have a vote on it. Now we 
know why: because Republican leadership, between Gingrich and Dole, are 
devising an excuse, a scheme really, to gut and repeal the existing 
minimum wage. One step forward, two steps back, a measure which would 
give a license to the Republican corporate friends to exploit the work 
force, working families. Working families do not need bait-and-switch. 
They need, working families do not need, political games. They need a 
raise. They need empowerment, a wage that takes them above the poverty 
level, and a Congress that votes for a minimum wage on the level.
  Mr. Speaker, the best welfare program is a job and a job that pays a 
living wage. Let us vote for a clean minimum wage bill and give the 
American people the type of empowerment that working families need: 
self-sufficiency with an adequate living wage so they can take care of 
themselves.

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