[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 29, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H8972]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATE FLEXIBILITY, A MEANS TO PROTECT WELFARE REFORM

  (Mr. DeMINT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DeMINT. Mr. Speaker, as we begin to debate raising the minimum 
wage, we must take into consideration the most significant change in 
our social, economic, and workplace laws in American history. We must 
remember welfare reform. Federal law currently places immense 
responsibilities on State governments to move people off of welfare and 
into productive jobs; but if we are not careful, another one-size-fits-
all Federal minimum wage could harm our efforts to create good jobs for 
every American.
  Mr. Speaker, we have trusted our governors with the responsibility to 
move welfare recipients into jobs. Now they need all the tools to do 
that job, including more control over the minimum wage. It is time we 
trust our State leaders to determine increases that best complement 
their successful welfare policies. I urge my colleagues to secure the 
employment future for American workers by sending these decisions back 
home.

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