[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 60 (Wednesday, May 13, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4776-S4777]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUES ENDORSES FAIR MINIMUM WAGE

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, President Clinton and Democrats in 
Congress strongly support a fair increase in the minimum wage. The 
economy is in a period of record growth. The stock markets are at an 
all time high. Unemployment continues to fall to its lowest level in a 
quarter century. Yet, too many workers on the bottom rungs of the 
economic ladder are not receiving their fare share of this prosperity.
  Most Americans recognize that the minimum wage is not yet a living 
wage. According to an April NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll, 79 percent of 
those questioned support an increase.
  Time and again, opponents state that increases in the minimum wage 
are harmful to the economy, and especially harmful to minority 
communities. But such statements have no basis in fact, as the current 
evidence makes clear.
  In his recent ``To Be Equal'' column published in over 300 African-
American newspapers across the country, Hugh Price, President of the 
National Urban League, strongly endorses the increase in the minimum 
wage that many of us have proposed, from its current level of $5.15 an 
hour to $5.65 an hour on January 1, 1999 and to $6.15 an hour on 
January 1, 2000. The National Urban League has played a prominent role 
in the civil rights community for over 80 years. Its 114 affiliates in 
34 states and the District of Columbia are at the forefront of the 
battle for economic and social justice for all Americans.

[[Page S4777]]

  Raising the minimum wage is a central part of the civil rights agenda 
to improve the economic condition of the working poor. I am proud that 
our legislation has the strong support of this renowned organization, 
and I ask unanimous consent that Hugh Price's column be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the column was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                  A Decent Income for Low-Wage Workers

                           (By Hugh B. Price)

       With all the hurrahs over the astonishing current 
     performance of the American economy--the so-called Long 
     Boom--it's easy to forget that portion of the nation's 
     workforce which has hardly shared in the general prosperity: 
     the 12 million Americans who wages range from the current 
     minimum wage of $5.15 an hour up to $6.14 an hour.
       That sum, earned by people who work in such low-skill 
     positions as fast-food worker and teacher's aide, adds up to 
     a paltry annual income indeed. The average American worker's 
     hourly wage is $12.64 an hour. But an individual working at 
     the minimum wage for 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, earns 
     only $10,712 annually--an income that is $2,600 below the 
     federal government's poverty line for a family of three.
       That fact, coupled with recent cuts in welfare and Food 
     Stamps programs, has driven increasing numbers of the working 
     poor to emergency food banks and pantries: A 1996 U.S. 
     Conference of Mayors survey found that 38 percent of those 
     seeking emergency food aid hold jobs, up from 23 percent in 
     1994; and more and more private charities are saying they 
     can't meet the greater demand on their resources.
       We must help Americans who work but often endure great 
     privation move closer to a decent, livable wage. We can do 
     that by supporting legislation in Congress raising the 
     minimum wage to a threshold of $6.15 an hour. Senator Ted 
     Kennedy (D.-Mass.) will try to bring the measure, which has 
     President Clinton's backing, before the Senate after Memorial 
     Day Congressional recess. Representative David Bonior (D.-
     Mich.) will lead the effort for it in the House. The proposed 
     law would raise the minimum wage by 50 cents each year for 
     1999 and 2000.
       We should raise the minimum wage because it's only fair: 
     hard work deserves just compensation at the bottom as well as 
     the top of the salary ladder.
       We know from the experience of the 90-cents minimum-wage 
     hike President Clinton signed into law in 1996 that minimum-
     wage increases benefit the people who need it most--
     hardworking adults in low-income families. Based on federal 
     labor department statistics, the Economic Policy Institute, a 
     Washington think tank, found that nearly 60 percent of the 
     gains from that minimum wage hike has gone to workers in the 
     bottom 40 percent of the income ladder. Raising the minimum 
     wage by $1 will help insure that parents who work hard and 
     play by the rules, and who utilize the Earned Income Tax 
     Credit, can bring up their children out of poverty.
       Contrary to a widespread view, federal statistics show that 
     most workers earning the minimum wage are adults, not 
     teenagers. Half of them work full time, and another third 
     work at least 20 hours a week. Sixty percent of those earning 
     the minimum wage are women; 15 percent are African-American, 
     and 14 percent are Hispanic.
       Our recent experience has shown that raising the minimum 
     wage in an era of strong and balanced economic expansion 
     won't undermine job growth. The hike President Clinton signed 
     into law in August 1996 increased the wages of 10 million 
     workers. Since then, the economy has created new jobs at the 
     very rapid pace of 250,000 per month, inflation has declined 
     from 2.9 percent to 1.6 percent, and the unemployment rate 
     has fallen to 4.6 percent--its lowest level in nearly 25 
     years.
       Some have expressed concern that raising the minimum wage 
     will make it even harder than it routinely is for young black 
     males to find work. Of course, the unemployment rate of black 
     males 16 to 19 years of age remains dangerously high: for 
     1997 it was 36.5 percent. But the minimum wage itself is 
     hardly a significant cause of this decades-old problem, as 
     we've noted before. Keeping the wages of all low-income 
     workers at subsistence levels will likely only exacerbate the 
     employment problems of young black males--and of the 
     communities they live in.
       Increasing the minimum wage now would restore its real 
     value to the level it last held in 1981, before the inflation 
     of the 1980s drove it down. We further recommend that 
     Congress index the minimum wage to inflation starting in the 
     year 2001 to prevent a further erosion of its value. Low-wage 
     workers should be treated no differently than other, higher-
     income workers who annually receive at least cost-of-living 
     increases in their salaries. With our economy in such glowing 
     health, there could be no better time to raise the minimum 
     wage. As President Clinton urged in his State of the Union 
     Address: ``In an economy that honors opportunity, all 
     Americans must be able to reap the rewards of prosperity. 
     Because these times are good, we can afford to take one 
     simple, sensible step to help millions of workers struggling 
     to provide for their families: We should raise the minimum 
     wage.''

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