[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 31 (Thursday, March 19, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S2305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Inouye, 
        Mr. Bumpers, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Moynihan, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Levin, 
        Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Rockefeller, Ms. 
        Mikulski, Mr. Wellstone, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Feingold, Mrs. 
        Feinstein, Ms. Moseley-Braun, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Reed, and Mr. 
        Torricelli):
  S. 1805. A bill to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to 
increase the Federal minimum wage; to the Committee on Labor and Human 
Resources.


                   the fair minimum wage act of 1998

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it is an honor to join with Senator 
Daschle and other Democratic Senators to introduce the Fair Minimum 
Wage Act of 1998. This proposal is strongly supported by President 
Clinton, and is also being introduced today in the House of 
Representatives by Congressman David Bonior, Democratic Leader Richard 
Gephardt, and many of their colleagues.
  The federal minimum wage is now $5.15 an hour. Our bill will raise it 
by $1.00 over the next two years--a 50 cent increase on January 1, 
1999, and another 50 cent increase on January 1, 2000, so that the 
minimum wage will reach the level of $6.15 at the turn of the century.
  These modest increases will help 20 million workers and their 
families. Twelve million Americans earning less than $6.15 an hour 
today will see a direct increase in their pay, and another 8 million 
Americans earning between $6.15 and $7.15 an hour are also likely to 
benefit from the increase.
  The nation's economy is the best it has been in decades. Under the 
leadership of President Clinton, the country as a whole is enjoying a 
remarkable period of growth and prosperity. Enterprise and 
entrepreneurship are flourishing--generating an extraordinary 
expansion, with remarkable efficiencies and job creation. The stock 
market is soaring. Inflation is low, unemployment is low, and interest 
rates are low.
  In the past 30 years, the stock market, adjusted for inflation, has 
gone up by 115%. In 1997, the average compensation of a Wall Street 
executive was $280,000--a stunning $120,000 increase over 1996. These 
lavish salaries contrast starkly with the 30% decline in the value of 
the minimum wage over the past three decades. To have the purchasing 
power it had in 1968, the minimum wage would have to be $7.38 an hour 
today, instead of $5.15.
  But the benefits of this prosperity have not flowed fairly to minimum 
wage earners. Working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, they earn 
$10,712 a year--$2,600 below the poverty line for a family of three.
  According to the Department of Labor, 60% of minimum wage earners are 
women. Nearly three-fourths are adults. Three-fifths are the sole 
breadwinners in their families. More than half work full time. These 
families need help, and they deserve this increase in the minimum wage.
  Increasing the minimum wage can make all the difference to these 
workers and their families. They will be able to survive without food 
stamps or other social services to supplement their incomes. They can 
fix up their homes and invest in their neighborhoods. They can spend 
more at the local grocery store. They can work two jobs rather than 
three, and spend more time with their families. Their utilities won't 
be cut off. They can pay the medical bills they accumulated from not 
having health benefits at their jobs. As one minimum wage earner told 
me earlier this year, ``The best welfare reform is an increase in the 
minimum wage.''
  Opponents typically claim that, if the minimum wage goes up, the sky 
will fall--small businesses will collapse and jobs will be lost. This 
hasn't happened in the past, and it won't happen in the future. In 
fact, in the time that has passed since the most recent increases in 
the federal minimum wage--a 50-cent increase on October 1, 1996 and a 
40-cent increase on September 1, 1997--employment has increased in all 
sectors of the population.
  Since September 1996, 700,000 new retail jobs have been added in the 
economy, including 200,000 new restaurant jobs. Overall employment is 
at an all-time high. Overall unemployment is at an historically low 
rate--4.6 %. The teenage unemployment rate has declined by 1.3 
percentage points. The unemployment rate for African-Americans has 
declined by 1 percentage point over the same period.
  Seventeen renowned economists--including Nobel Prize winner Lawrence 
R. Klein and former Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall--recently wrote to 
President Clinton, supporting an increase in the minimum wage. 
According to these experts, ``the 1996 and 1997 increases had a 
beneficial effect, not only on those whose earnings were increased by 
90 cents an hour, but also on the economy as a whole. Billions in added 
consumer demand helped fuel our expanding economy in those years. . . . 
Given the nation's low unemployment rate and strong economy without 
inflation, now is the time to deepen our public commitment to a decent 
minimum wage.''
  The American people understand that you can't raise a family on $5.15 
an hour. We intend to do all we can to see that the minimum wage is 
increased this year. No one who works for a living should have to live 
in poverty.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1805

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This act may be cited as the ``Fair Minimum Wage Act of 
     1998''.

     SEC. 2. MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE.

       (a) Wage.--Paragraph (1) of section 6(a) of the Fair Labor 
     Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) is amended to 
     read as follows:
       ``(1) except as otherwise provided in this section, not 
     less than--
       ``(A) $5.65 an hour during the year beginning on January 1, 
     1999; and
       ``(B) $6.15 an hour during the year beginning on January 1, 
     2000.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     takes effect on January 1, 1999.
                                 ______