[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 120 (Friday, September 11, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10260-S10263]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE MINIMUM WAGE

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, earlier today the majority leader 
propounded the unanimous consent request relevant to the bankruptcy 
legislation. In that proposition, he had indicated that the first 
amendment to be considered to the bankruptcy bill would be the 
amendment which I will offer with a number of our colleagues on behalf 
of the Americans who are at the bottom two rungs of the economic 
ladder, those who are making the minimum wage in our Nation.
  It is an amendment to increase the minimum wage by 50 cents in 
January of next year and another 50-cent increase the following year. 
The total increase would be a $1 increase in the minimum wage. We will 
have an opportunity to debate that issue on Tuesday morning, with a 
vote on that sometime around the noon hour. At that time, the 
membership will express itself on whether we are going to reward work 
in the United States of America, whether we are going to say that our 
fellow Americans who are at the lower end of the economic ladder, who 
have lost more than any other group in our society in terms of their 
purchasing power over the period of these last years, whether they are 
going to be able to have a very, very modest increase of $1 over the 
period of the next year and a half to 2 years to their wages.
  Mr. President, there are a number of reasons for this increase. I 
think the most compelling one is the reason that those of us in this 
country have a sense of common purpose, have a sense of community, have 
a sense of caring about our neighbors and those who are fellow 
citizens. That has been a strength of our Nation ever since its 
earliest days.
  We also put a strong emphasis and a strong quality on the issue of 
working. What we are saying is that those who are going to work 40 
hours a week, 52 weeks of the year, should no longer live in poverty. 
That has been the reason for the minimum wage in the first place, 
following the Great Depression and over a long period of time. There 
have been five raises in the minimum wage since 1955. Raising the 
minimum wage has been supported by Republicans and Democrats, 
Republican Presidents, Democratic Presidents. It has by and large been 
a bipartisan effort over the recent years.
  The principal cautions in raising the minimum wage have been, would 
the raising of the minimum wage result in an increase in the rates of 
inflation which would work to the detriment of other workers in our 
society, and would it contribute to increasing unemployment in our 
society and, in that respect, have a disadvantaging impact on the 
various people we are trying to help?
  Those are powerful economic issues. And they ought to be considered 
at any particular time. And we are glad to consider those issues at 
this time as we are advancing the cause of workers in our society, 
workers who have not benefited from this extraordinary prosperity which 
we as Americans have seen over the period of the last 6 years, the 
greatest economic growth, the greatest price stability, the lowest 
unemployment, the lowest rates of inflation. The economy, with all of 
the ups and downs of the stock market, is extremely strong, and it has 
been strong, and it continues to be strong.
  Nonetheless, we have seen that over the period of recent years the 
purchasing power of those at the lower level of the economic ladder has 
deteriorated significantly. And what we are attempting to do is to say 
to our fellow Americans, as we as a nation move ahead in terms of the 
economic prosperity, that we want all of our fellow citizens to move 
along together. It is not asking very much to have a 50 cent increase 
in the minimum wage or $1 over a period of the next 2 years. That is 
the issue, Mr. President, that will be squarely before this body on 
Tuesday next and where we will have an opportunity to vote on it.
  Mr. President, as we have on other occasions, I think it is fair to 
look at where the minimum wage is today and where it has been. The 
inclusions in our amendment, are they really reasonable given the 
current economic conditions? We maintain they are extremely reasonable.
  On this chart here, the real minimum wage reflects where the 
purchasing power of the minimum wage in real dollars is--in real 
dollars from 1995, 1998, and beyond.
  If you look at this end of the chart, Mr. President, you will see 
1997, 1998; and you will see where my pen is, that at this point here 
we are talking about a $1 increase from $5.15 to what would be $6.15, 
with the increase in the minimum wage in real dollars. By the year 
2000, it will only amount to $5.76 in real dollars.
  If you go across this line, Mr. President, going back through the 
1960s all the way through the 1970s, you will see even with this kind 
of increase in the minimum wage of $1, the purchasing power of the 
minimum wage for working families will still be lower than it was for a 
period of some 20, 23 years from 1960s all the way through the early 
1980s. So even with this increase, it is extremely modest, Mr. 
President, extremely moderate--it still does not bring us back to the 
purchasing power that the minimum wage has had for the better part of 
our postwar period. But, nonetheless, it is important progress for 
families.
  All you have to do is ask any family what a difference it makes for a 
50-cent or a $1 increase in the minimum wage. They will answer very 
quickly, ``It means that we'll have to have two jobs instead of three 
jobs.'' That will be their first answer. And secondly, an increase of 
$1 in the minimum wage will mean the purchase of groceries for probably 
6 months of a year. It will mean the rent for a working-poor family of 
about 7 months of a year. It will be about two-thirds the cost of the 
tuition for a son or a daughter, of a working family earning the 
minimum wage, to attend a public university in their State. This is 
very important to those at the lower end of the economic ladder. That 
is basically the historical situation, Mr. President.
  It is fair to ask ourselves now, what has happened in the rates of 
inflation? Let us take a look at inflation and the minimum wage. Many 
say, ``If we increase the minimum wage, we're going to see a bump in 
the rate of inflation.'' Well, if we look at what happens to the 
minimum wage--and in this particular chart here we go from 1996 all the 
way up to 1998--we look at what is happening to the rate of inflation.
  Prior to the rise in the minimum wage, which was in October 1996, the 
rate of inflation per month was three-tenths of 1 percent. Then we 
raised the minimum wage to $4.75. And if you look at this chart here, 
you will find that it continued along virtually the same three-tenths 
of 1 percent. It dropped down here in the wintertime, it rose again in 
the early spring, dropped again, and then settled into a significant 
drop. If you are talking of three-tenths of 1 percent per month to two-
tenths of 1 percent, you are talking about a significant drop in the 
rate of inflation, even with the last increase in the minimum wage. 
Then it rose another 50 cents in 1997. And the inflation rate was two-
tenths of 1 percent.
  Look what has happened since that last raise to $5.15. It went along 
for a period of time, dropped, bounced up, and is now down to one-tenth 
of 1 percent.
  Mr. President, the clear signal from this chart is that the last 
increase in the minimum wage virtually had no impact on the rate of 
inflation. And if we are to look at the history of these last several 
years, we will see that the rate of inflation has actually gone down. 
It is not a valid point to say that if we try to do something to raise 
the minimum wage, it is going to add to inflation.

[[Page S10261]]

  Now, if we look at what the impact is on unemployment, this is a 
second argument. If we raise the minimum wage, it is going to have an 
adverse impact on inflation and it is going to increase unemployment. 
Again, if we go back to October 1996 where we saw an increase in the 
minimum wage, we had 5.2 percent unemployment, a little bump, and then 
a gradual decline through September 1997, when the last increase in the 
minimum wage went to $5.15. Since that last increase in September of 
1997, up until August of 1998, we have seen a continuing reduction of 
the unemployment, down at the present time to 4.5, 4.4 percent. It has 
not added to inflation. It has not added or contributed to 
unemployment. Those two economic arguments do not stand.
  If we look at the impact on our teens, the arguments are made, 
``Senator, we are concerned about what the impact is going to be on 
teen unemployment and particularly among the minorities.'' The fact is, 
about 20 to 25 percent of all those who receive the minimum wage are 
teenagers. Most of the teenagers in my State who are receiving the 
minimum wage are out there their first year in college trying to make 
ends meet.
  Travel with me to the University of Massachusetts in Boston at the 
campus. Mr. President, many of the children who go to that excellent 
school are from families where the parents never went to the school. 
And much of the student body is working 25 hours a week or more. These 
are teenagers. These are many of the children who are trying to gain 
sufficient income to fund their education. We should think it is a 
worthwhile and valuable endeavor in trying to support kids who are 
trying to go to school and stay in school, many of whom are coming from 
difficult and complex backgrounds. Nonetheless, they go on.
  Take the minorities. In this case, the black teen unemployment--we 
can go through any of the various groups in terms of unemployment--and 
what we see again is the increase in the minimum wage, the continued 
decline in terms of unemployment of black teenagers and minority 
teenagers. This chart is just a reflection of the same trend. We see 
that the total number of employment in terms of teenagers 16 to 19, 
with the increase in the minimum wage, these are the individuals who 
find the employment going up. Increase in the minimum wage based upon 
sound economic principles, and we see that there has not been an 
adverse impact on the issues of employment or inflation.
  Now, I think it is worthwhile to ask who is really for this increase 
in the minimum wage. Mr. President, 170 organizations--170 
organizations--representing not just workers. The AFL-CIO, even though 
their workers are all receiving far above the minimum wage, is 
certainly interested because of respect for the value of work. The 
principal church groups and church leaders are strongly supportive. The 
leaders of the various women's and children's organizations are 
strongly supportive. The various civil rights organizations, knowing 
the importance of this in terms of the individuals, are strongly 
supportive.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a list of the 
various groups and organizations that are in support of this 
legislation.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record,  as follows:

           Campaign For a Fair Minimum Wage--Participants\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     \1\ Coalition in formation (August 27, 1998).
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       A. Philip Randolph Institute.
       ACORN.
       AFL-CIO.
       Alliance To End Childhood Lead Poisoning.
       American Association of University Women.
       American Ethical Union, Washington Ethical Action Office.
       American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).
       American Federation of State, County and Municipal 
     Employees (AFSCME).
       American Friends Service Committee.
       American Friends Service committee, Philadelphia, PA.
       American Income Life Insurance Co.
       American Nurses Association.
       American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
       Americans for Democratic Action (ADA).
       Arkansas Jobs With Justice, Religion-Labor Committee, 
     Hampton, AR.
       Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, New York, 
     NY.
       Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance.
       Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California, 
     Los Angeles, CA.
       Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.
       Black Women's Agenda, Inc., Springfield, VA.
       Bread for the World.
       Campaign for America's Future.
       Catholic Charities USA.
       Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Louisville, Louisville, 
     KY.
       Catholic Charities, Oklahoma City, OK.
       Catholics for a Free Choice.
       Center for the Child Care Workforce.
       Center for Community Change.
       Center for Economic Options, Inc., Charleston, WV.
       Center for Law and Social Policy.
       Center for Women Policy Studies.
       Children's Defense Fund.
       Church Women United.
       Clearinghouse on Women's Issues.
       Coal Employment Project, Tazewell, VA.
       Coalition for Economic Justice of Western New York, 
     Buffalo, NY.
       Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.
       Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW).
       Coalition on Human Needs.
       Communications Workers of America (CWA).
       CWA, Local 6310, St. Louis, Mo.
       Community Food Resource Center, Inc.
       The Congress of National Black Churches, Inc.
       Democratic Socialists of America.
       Disabled in Action, New York, NY.
       East 10th United Methodist Church, Indianapolis, IN.
       Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, San Francisco, CA.
       The Episcopal Church.
       Faith Community For Worker Justice, Wauwatosa, WI.
       Family and Children's Service, Minneapolis, MN.
       Family Service America.
       Farmworkers Support Committee, Glassboro, NJ.
       Federally Employed Women, Inc.
       Foorida Impact, Tallahassee, FL.
       Food Research & Action Center.
       Friends Committee on National Legislation.
       Friends of the Earth.
       Friends of the National Hook-up of Black Women, Inc., 
     Chicago, IL.
       Gray Panthers.
       Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition, New York, NY.
       Growing Up in Cities, Frankfort, KY.
       Heartland Center/Office of Peace & Social Justice, Diocese 
     of Gary, Indiana.
       Institute for Mission in the USA, Evangelical Lutheran 
     Church in America, Church & Labor Concerns, Saint Paul, MN.
       Institute for Mission in the USA, Evangelical Lutheran 
     Church in America, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, OH.
       Institute for Southern Studies, Durham, NC.
       Institute Justice Team, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, 
     Des Plaines, IL.
       Interfaith Alliance.
       Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues, Detroit, MI.
       IPS/Progressive Challenge.
       Jewish Council for Public Affairs, New York, NY.
       Jewish Labor Committee, New York, NY.
       Jobs with Justice.
       Justice and Peace Office Archdiocese of Seattle, Seattle, 
     WA.
       Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.
       Latino Workers Center, New York, NY.
       League for Industrial Democracy.
       Mennonite Central Committee, U.S..
       Migrant Legal Action Program.
       Mississippi Hunger Task Force, Jackson, MS.
       Mon Valley Unemployed Committee, Homestead, PA.
       NAACP.
       National Association of Commissions for Women.
       National Association of Community Action Agencies.
       National Association of Social Workers.
       National Association of Social Workers, Connecticut 
     Chapter, Rocky Hill, CT.
       National Association of Social Workers, North Carolina 
     Chapter.
       National Association of Working Women (9 to 5) Milwaukee, 
     WI.
       National Black Child Development Institute.
       National Caucus and Center on Black Aged, Inc.
       National Coalition for the Homeless.
       National Committee on Pay Equity.
       National Conference of Puerto Rican Women, Inc.
       National Consumers League.
       National Council of Churches.
       National Council of Jewish Women.
       National Council of La Raza.
       National Council of Negro Women.
       National Council of Senior Citizens.
       National Council on Family Relations, Minneapolis, MN.
       National Education Association (NEA).
       National Farmers Union.
       National Hispana Leadership Institute.
       National Low Income Housing Coalition.
       National Partnership for Women & Families.
       National Puerto Rican Coalition.
       National Rural Housing Coalition.
       National Urban Coalition.
       National Urban League.
       National Women's Conference Committee, Women's Studies, 
     University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, WI.

[[Page S10262]]

       National Women's Law Center.
       National Women's Political Caucus.
       Nebraskans for Peace, Lincoln, NE.
       Neighbor to Neighbor.
       Network: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby.
       Nontraditional Employment for Women, New York, NY.
       North Texas Jobs with Justice, Dallas, TX.
       NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund.
       Nurses Professional Organization UNA/AFSCME, Louisville, 
     KY.
       Office of Justice and Peace, Jacksonville, FL.
       Older Women's League (OWL).
       Oregon Food Bank, Portland, OR.
       Peace and Justice Committee of the Congregation of the 
     Sisters of Divine Providence of Kentucky, Melbourne, KY.
       Philadelphia Unemployment Project, Philadephia, PA.
       Phoenix Interfaith Committee For Worker Justice, 
     Scottsdale, AZ.
       Project South: Institution for the Elimination of Poverty 
     and Genocide, Atlanta, GA.
       Project South: Institution for the Elimination of Poverty 
     and Genocide, Washington, DC.
       Quaker Committee on Kentucky Legislation, Frankfort, KY.
       Rainbow/Push Coalition.
       Religion and Labor Council of Kansas City, Kansas City, MO.
       Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, (RWDSU), 
     Alabama & Midsouth Council, Birmingham, AL.
       Sakhi for South Asian Women, New York, NY.
       Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
       SEIU Local 100, New Orleans, LA.
       Social Democrats USA.
       Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Altanta, 
     GA.
       Southern Regional Council, Atlanta, GA.
       Stakeholder Alliance.
       Tampa United Methodist Centers, Tampa, FL.
       Texas Mental Health Consumers, Austin, TX.
       Union of American Hebrew Congregations/Religious Action 
     Center.
       Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees 
     (UNITE).
       Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
       Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community, 
     Pittsburgh, PA.
       Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.
       UNITE Local 116, McComb, MS.
       UNITE Local 551, Como, MS.
       United Automobile Workers (UAW).
       UAW Local 2324, Boston, MA.
       United Church of Christ, Cleveland, OH.
       United Church of Christ, Office for Church in Society.
       United Food and Commercial Workers International Union 
     (UFCW).
       United Methodist Board of Church and Society.
       United Mine Workers (UMW).
       United Paperworkers International Union (UPIU), Nashville, 
     TN.
       United States Catholic Conference.
       United Steelworkers of America.
       U.S. Jesuit Conference.
       Washington Association of Churches, Seattle, WA.
       Washington City Church of the Brethren.
       Western MassCOSH, Springfield, MA.
       Western Pennsylvania Living Wage Campaign, Pittsburgh, PA.
       Wider Opportunities for Women.
       Wisconsin Committee on Occupational Safety and Health 
     (WisCOSH), Milwaukee, WI.
       Women Employed, Chicago, IL.
       Women Strike for Peace.
       Women Unlimited, Augusta, ME.
       Women Work!
       Workers Organizing Committee, Portland, OR.
       Workplace Project, Hempstead, NY.
       YWCA of the National Capital Area.

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I want to take a few moments, now that we 
have the statistics behind us and we have dealt with the economic 
issues. If there are those who have differing economic indicators, we 
welcome them. Present those so we will have a chance to debate. But we 
have not heard from them as we have been making this case in the past 
weeks and past months, even the past year, about the importance of this 
increase. We haven't heard those arguments made.
  Let me indicate to this body who we are really talking about, because 
I think it is important that we realize who these individuals are who 
are the recipients of the minimum wage. Mr. President, 33 percent of 
those who benefit from this increase are in service occupations, 
including home health care workers. These are workers like Cathy Adams, 
a home health aide from Viola, IL. Cathy is a high school graduate, who 
is currently enrolled in a computer training program at the local 
community college. She lives with her two daughters, who are 10 and 11.
  Cathy works 11\1/2\ hours a day, 5 days a week. She cares for a woman 
with multiple sclerosis. She bathes her, dresses her, and feeds her. 
She does the grocery shopping, the laundry, and the cleaning. She runs 
errands and schedules doctor appointments.
  Cathy likes her job and is fond of her client, but she finds it hard 
to live on $5.30 an hour. In March, she told a minimum wage forum:

       I literally live paycheck to paycheck. After paying the 
     bills, whatever is left over goes to groceries. I have $9 in 
     my savings account and worry about being able to save for my 
     girls' education. We rarely have money to go to a movie or 
     eat out at a restaurant. The other day, my girls asked me to 
     take them ice skating at school. While it only costs $10, I 
     had to think twice about whether we could afford it. Most of 
     the clothing I buy for my kids and for myself comes from yard 
     sales and secondhand stores.

  This is a minimum wage worker, someone who will be affected by our 
amendment.
  A second group, is child care workers. According to ``Worthy Work, 
Unlivable Wages,'' a recent study by the Center for Child Care 
Workforce, in 1997, the average wage for a teaching assistant in child 
care centers ranged from $6 to $7 an hour. This is less than the 1998 
poverty level for a family of three--$13,650. Turnover among these 
assistants is high, 40 percent.
  We talk about what we care about in terms of our children. One of the 
most important aspects of the child's life is what is happening to them 
in their home, primarily, but also what happens to them when they are 
in some kind of child care setting, in a Head Start child care setting. 
So many of those who take care of those children are child care 
workers. Those child care workers, by and large, are receiving the 
minimum wage.
  One of the reasons you have the great turnover is because they can't 
make it. Rather than having the child care workers who stay with your 
children throughout the year and interact with them and help and assist 
them getting a decent, livable wage, we have this very considerable 
turnover. The study found that centers paying higher than average 
salaries had lower turnover rates than centers paying less.
  We find that true in the Head Start programs, as well. We care about 
children. We care about fairness and we care about child care workers. 
We need to do something about a minimum wage.
  These are workers like Kimberly Frazier, a child care aide from 
Philadelphia. Kimberly works full time and earns $5.20 an hour. She is 
a single mother with three children and has worked at the same center 
since 1992.
  Kimberly says her salary barely covers her bills--rent of $250 a 
month, food, utilities, clothing for three growing children, and 
carfare to get her daughter and herself to the child care center. She 
told our forum:

       Of course, there is never money for a vacation for my 
     children or me. I go without new clothes for myself because I 
     have to keep buying new sneakers for my children, they 
     outgrow them so fast. I can't afford a car and pay for gas 
     and insurance so I rely on public transportation. If I had a 
     car, I could get out to the places where there are better 
     paying jobs. And, like all Americans, I dream of buying my 
     own house so that I can raise my kids in a neighborhood that 
     has less crime and more trees. But I know that, although I 
     work and study as hard as I can, I will never have the down 
     payment for a house earning the minimum wage.

  She concluded,

       A dollar an hour probably doesn't sound like a lot to many 
     people, but to me and my children it would mean a real 
     improvement in our lives.

  Many minimum wage workers are janitors, cleaning offices in buildings 
across the country. They are people like Valerie Bell. Valerie works as 
a custodian at the Baltimore City World Trade Center. Since 1995, that 
building has been covered by Baltimore's Living Wage Ordinance, which 
requires city contractors to pay $6.10 an hour. That's higher than the 
federal minimum, but still lower than the level that I have proposed.
  According to Valerie Bell, the living wage means dignity for workers 
and their families. As she puts it, ``under the living wage, we no 
longer have to receive food stamps or other social services to 
supplement our incomes. We can fix up our homes and invest in our 
neighborhoods. We can spend more at the local grocery store. We can 
possibly work two jobs rather than three low wage jobs and spend more 
time with our families. Our utilities won't be cut off. We can pay the 
medical bills we accumulated from not having benefits in these jobs. 
The best welfare reform is a living wage job.''

[[Page S10263]]

  Nationwide, most security screeners at airports earn the minimum 
wage. These workers screen passenger luggage, operate metal detectors 
and work x-ray machines. They are responsible for the safety of 
millions of passengers and thousands of airplanes entering and leaving 
airports around the country--yet they earn the minimum wage.
  These are workers like Melvin Ware, a customs carousel handler at the 
Los Angeles Airport. He takes home about $317 every two weeks. ``By the 
time you pay rent and utilities, you're broke,'' he said. ``There's no 
life after work.'' Raquel Littlejohn screens passenger luggage, and 
spends much of her day at a computer terminal. This strains her eyes 
but, with take-home pay of under $400 every two weeks, she can't afford 
to get them checked. A sympathetic L.A. Councilwoman said, ``I don't 
think it's good that the person who is doing such an important job has 
to be worrying about trying to get to the next one because the security 
job doesn't pay a living wage.''
  Eighteen percent of today's workforce is employed in the retail 
industry--that's 22.5 million workers. Many are paid the minimum wage.
  These are people like Cordelia Bradley of Philadelphia. She works at 
a clothing chain just outside Philadelphia. She is the mother of one 
son, and she earns $5.15 an hour.
  She told our minimum wage forum in March that:

       I am currently living in a rented room for which I pay $300 
     a month. I would like to have my own apartment but I cannot 
     afford one. In addition to paying my rent, I pay for food, 
     clothing and transportation. . . . If the minimum wage was 
     higher I would be able to save up for my own apartment for me 
     and my son. . . . I ask you to reward the people who go to 
     work by raising up the minimum wage. Things are very rough 
     for people, not just people on welfare. There are many people 
     like me who go to work every day and cannot afford to live. 
     Please do the right thing.

  Then there are laundry workers, and the list goes on. These are the 
individuals whose lives would be impacted by the increase in the 
minimum wage. We are talking about a dollar--a dollar an hour. We are 
talking probably $2,000 over the course of a year. That's not two-
thirds as much as the increase that every Member of the U.S. Senate 
received in this Congress--two-thirds as much as we have received in 
this Congress. We are being asked whether we are going to try to give 
those individuals some relief, some help, some assistance, as we have 
in the best days of our past, to say that these individuals could and 
should be able to have an impact.
  Nationwide, the soup kitchens, food pantries and homeless shelters 
are increasingly serving the working poor, not just the unemployed. 
According to a recent study by Second Harvest, the nationwide networks 
of food banks, in 1997, 39 percent of households seeking emergency food 
aid had at least one member who was working. Eighty-six percent of 
households receiving emergency food aid earned under $15,500 a year, 
and 67 percent of the households earned less than $10,000 a year.
  According to a U.S. Conference of Mayors study, requests for 
emergency food aid increased 86 percent in the cities survey. And 67 
percent of the cities cited low-paying jobs as one of the main causes 
of hunger. These aren't only just for the parents, these are for the 
children. This is not a Member of Congress that is saying it, these are 
the mayors of the country saying what is happening out across the 
Nation, which is that individuals can't make it with this kind of an 
income, and there is something that we can do.
  We are facing many complex problems here in the United States 
Congress and Senate. We have faced many of them. But one that we can 
impact and one that we should impact is trying to make sure that people 
who work will not be in poverty for themselves and their children. We 
hear a lot about American values in our country, about what is 
important and what is unimportant. The newspapers are filled with that. 
Well, this is something that is important.
  I welcome the fact that President Clinton has been a strong supporter 
of this particular issue. So we will have an opportunity, Mr. 
President, to come back and visit this issue. Nothing, I believe--and I 
have had a chance to vote and participate on many different issues over 
37 years in the U.S. Senate--there is no single issue that is more 
defined in terms of fairness than the issue of the minimum wage. 
Nothing. Just in terms of fairness, are we going to be fair to working 
people in our country and in our society? Are we going to be fair 
against the background and history of Republicans and Democrats that 
were fair?
  We are going to be asked next Tuesday whether this body will be fair. 
We will have a chance then to speak to that issue.

                          ____________________