[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 117 (Friday, August 2, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H9838]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DEMOCRATS DECLARE VICTORY FOR GETTING MINIMUM WAGE BILL TO FLOOR OF 
                                 HOUSE

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, the Democrats can declare victory again 
today, once the minimum wage bill is brought up on the House floor, but 
I just wanted to point out two things: First, to remind my colleagues 
that the Republicans fought against this minimum wage bill tooth and 
nail over the last 2 years; and, second, to point out that this affects 
real people.
  Too many times on the other side of the aisle, particularly last 
Monday when the House Republican leader, the gentleman from Texas, Dick 
Armey, once again blasted the minimum wage and said that it was not 
important to real people, it was somehow an inside-the-beltway issue. 
Well, that is simply not true.
  There are probably about 10 million Americans that are affected by a 
minimum wage increase, and they are people that have to go out every 
day and work to bring home the bread, to raise families, to pay for 
their mortgages, to pay for heat, to pay for their rent, whatever it 
happens to be. By delaying this minimum wage increase over 18 months, 
the Republican leadership has made it very difficult for those real 
people.
  I am pleased today that it is finally being brought up. It is a 
victory not only for the Democrats but it is a victory for the real 
people in this country who only earn a minimum wage.

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