[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 103 (Friday, July 12, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H7507-H7508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair would remind Members that under 
the rules and precedence of the House it is not in order to cast 
reflections on the Senate or its Members, either individually or 
collectively.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, a 90-cent increase is all that we are 
asking for, 90-cent increase. But the Republicans are firm in their 
opposition. The Republican whip, the gentleman from Texas, Tom DeLay, 
who was well compensated as a Member of Congress, as we all are, to the 
tune of $133,600 a year, he has said that ``Families trying to get by 
on $4.25 an hour do not really exist.''
  He should get out of Washington more and meet the 12 million 
Americans, most of them, by the way, who are women, who would benefit 
from the wage increase.

[[Page H7508]]

  This extra pay may seem small but would mean 7 months of groceries, a 
year of health care costs, 9 months of utility bills or 4 months of 
housing.
  In the State of Connecticut, 87,158 hardworking people earn between 
$4.25 and $5.14 an hour. Each one of those people would benefit by 
passing a minimum wage increase.
  In the Republican Whip Tom DeLay's State of Texas, 1.1 million people 
would benefit. That is 14.7 percent of the Texas work force, not an 
insignificant number.
  But these hardworking Americans in Connecticut and Texas and their 12 
million fellow Americans continue to wait for a boost in their wages 
because the Republican Party continues to find new ways to block the 
increase.
  This is legislation that has passed both the House and the Senate and 
is now being held hostage by extremists, people who would rather 
protect special interests than to help ordinary working Americans. All 
the while, America's workers struggle and they scramble to pay their 
bills, to put food on their tables, to clothe their kids, to get them 
to school and to maintain their standard of living.
  A minimum wage worker makes about $8,500 a year. That is it. Two-
thirds of these workers are adults and almost 60 percent are women. 
Over 40 percent are the sole breadwinners in their family. The 
Department of Health and Human Services estimates that the minimum wage 
increase could lift 300,000 families out of poverty, including 100,000 
children.
  A great American once said, and I quote:

       No man can be a good citizen unless he has a living wage 
     more than sufficient to cover the bare cost of living * * * 
     so that after his day's work is done he will have time and 
     energy to bear his share in the management of the community, 
     to help in carrying the general load.

  Which great American said that? Theodore Roosevelt. A Republican 
President of the United States. Unlike the Republicans in the Senate, 
President Roosevelt understood that Americans deserve to be treated 
fairly and to be honored for their work.
  Day 3 of the Republicans holding hostage the minimum wage. Day 3, and 
the American people continue to wait for something they support 
overwhelmingly. Day 3, and the special interests continue to control 
the Republican agenda. It is time to free the minimum wage.

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