[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 103 (Friday, July 12, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H7510-H7511]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                THE MINIMUM WAGE AND HEALTH CARE REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Greene of Utah). Under a previous order 
of the House, the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Pallone] is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I am here today to talk for 5 minutes 
about 2 issues that I think are really crucial to the American people 
and that have a real chance of passing in this House and in the Senate 
and be signed into law by the President, if only the Republican 
leadership would allow the legislation to be voted on in, to be brought 
to the floor and voted on in a fashion that most Members agree on, 
whether they happen to be Republican or Democrat.
  One is the minimum wage increase and the other is health care reform 
legislation that was originally sponsored in the Senate by Senator 
Kassebaum and Senator Kennedy, again on a bipartisan basis.
  The minimum wage hike is long overdue. I know that my colleague from 
California on the other side said, well, why did not the Democrats do 
it 2 years ago or why did not such-and-such do it whenever. I am not 
really concerned about the past.
  The reality is that we know there are an overwhelming majority in the 
House and in the Senate, both Democrats and Republicans, that would 
vote for this very simple minimum wage hike if they were given an 
opportunity to do so. And once again, this week in the other body, in 
fact, there was a vote, and efforts by the Republican leadership over 
there to try to put in what I would call poison-pill amendments that 
would have delayed implementation of the minimum wage hike or would 
have excluded small businesses so that half the people who now benefit 
from the minimum wage would not have gotten the increase. Those 
amendments were defeated overwhelmingly, again, on a bipartisan basis.
  The only thing that is holding up this bill right now is because the 
Republican leadership in the other body has decided that they will not 
appoint conferees and links the appointment of conferees to conferees 
being appointed on the health care reform bill, the other bill I 
mentioned today.
  Well, some of you may, my colleagues certainly know but I am not sure 
that the public knows what we mean when we talk about appointing 
conferees. This is when there is basically a meeting or negotiation 
between the two Houses on different bills. If you do not appoint the 
conferees and you do not bring the bill to the floor, the bill does not 
pass.

[[Page H7511]]

  That is what we face now. A concerted effort on the part of the 
Republican leadership in the other body to not let these two bills come 
to the floor and be passed. It is a shame.
  The American people, those who are on the minimum wage need a hike. 
They have not had one for a long time. Many people would benefit from 
the Kennedy-Kassebaum health insurance reform because it would provide 
portability, the ability to take your health insurance with you when 
you lose a job or when you transfer jobs.
  It would also allow for people to buy health insurance who now cannot 
because they have a preexisting medical condition.
  Now, it is time for this legislation to move and be passed and be 
sent to the President. We only have a short amount of time here. I do 
not know, there is maybe 25, 30, possibly fewer legislative days. If 
the Republican leadership continues to put a hold on these bills----

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