[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 101 (Wednesday, July 10, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H7163-H7164]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE WILL NOT HAPPEN

  (Mr. VOLKMER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. VOLKMER. Mr. Speaker, yesterday was a big day for a lot of low-
income American people that are hard working. The other body passed the 
minimum wage increase bill overwhelmingly. All the media talked about 
it, what a great thing it was for the low-income American people that 
work very hard right now for $4.25.
  Folks, I have got something to tell you. You have seen the last of 
it. Newt Gingrich, dictator Newt Gingrich, the Speaker of the House, 
and the leader of the Senate, both oppose that minimum wage.
  One of two things is going to happen. They are either not going to 
appoint conferees or they are going to wait until September or October, 
right before we adjourn, to appoint them. Or if they appoint conferees 
the conferees are never going to come to an agreement.
  The same thing is happening on health care reform. They did not like 
it

[[Page H7164]]

the way it was, so they are not going to have it.
  That is what happens when you have a dictator as a Speaker. Newt 
Gingrich is not going to permit the minimum wage bill to ever come up 
for a vote in the House and Senate again. Why? The National Restaurant 
Association is opposed to it, and they have given Newt Gingrich 
thousands and thousands of dollars. That is why.

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