[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 100 (Tuesday, July 9, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H7121-H7122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members should refrain from making 
references to proceedings in the other body.

[[Page H7122]]



                         THE MINIMUM WAGE VOTE

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to make reference today that the 
other body is going to be voting today on this much overdue increase in 
the minimum wage.
  I just wanted to point out some of the lessons we learned in the 
House while debating this issue. No. 1 is that the American people want 
a raise in the minimum wage for everyone and they want it now. We 
learned that lesson every time the Republicans proposed amendments in 
the House to defeat the bill.
  Now the Senate is trying to resurrect some of the same amendments 
defeated in the House. One amendment offered by the Senate Small 
Business Committee chairman will delay implementation of the wage hike 
by 6 months. His amendment will also exempt small business from the 
increase, denying 6,000,000 American workers a living wage. This is a 
cruel hoax to play on those who need an increase in the minimum wage 
the most.
  Mr. Speaker, the President will veto this bill if it comes to his 
desk with these poison pill amendments. I urge the Republicans in the 
Senate to learn from the House. The American people want an increase in 
the minimum wage, and it will save us a lot of time and money if they 
simply vote for an increase in the minimum wage and leave out all the 
destructive amendments.

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