[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 9 (Monday, February 7, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S373-S374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  MAKING WORK PAY FOR WORKING FAMILIES

  Mr. BAYH. Madam President, I rise today to speak in support of 
increasing the minimum wage. I am aware that the bankruptcy reform bill 
that we recently passed in this chamber contains an amendment that will 
increase the minimum wage by $1 over a three-year period. While I voted 
for passage of the final bill, the minimum wage amendment it contained 
was constructed in a way that is sure to draw a Presidential veto, 
thereby endangering not only a wage increase for working families but 
also the months of work that all of us have put into reforming our 
bankruptcy laws.
  The amendment that the bill contained was deeply flawed. I hope that 
the amendment will be stripped in conference so that we can send a 
bankruptcy reform bill to the President that he will sign. Then, 
perhaps we can move forward on a real increase in the minimum wage, 
perhaps in a package that contains some meaningful tax cuts for small 
business.
  Madam President, we are living in a time of unprecedented economic 
prosperity. A few days ago, we reached an important milestone: We are 
now enjoying the longest economic expansion in our nation's history. 
Economic growth has been so strong that in 17 of the last 24 quarters, 
real GDP grew at a rate of three percent or more. Innovation, 
productivity, and fiscal discipline have all contributed to this 
expansion. Unemployment is at historic lows, real wages are increasing 
for many, and we have replaced welfare with work in record numbers.
  But not everyone is realizing the prosperity many have enjoyed. While 
many workers in the economy have enjoyed sizeable raises, those workers 
at the bottom are still working hard just to make ends meet. Consider a 
minimum wage worker, working 40 hours a week. We want this worker to 
stay off of welfare, to be a responsible citizen and contribute to 
society, yet the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour allows this worker to 
earn just $10,700--nearly $3,000 below the poverty level for a family 
of three. Add to this the fact that most of these workers receive no 
pension or paid vacation, few receive child care, and many lack 
employer-provided health insurance. There is no question that it is 
very difficult in our society to be a worker at the very bottom of the 
income scale.
  It is important that we recognize the contributions that these 
workers make to our economy and our society, and that we act to ensure 
that the purchasing power of their income does not erode over time. 
Today's minimum wage is more than 20 percent lower in real terms than 
it was in 1979. The proposed increase to $6.15 simply restores the 
minimum wage back to its purchasing power in 1982. Would any of us deny 
that it's just as tough, or tougher, for a low-income family to make 
ends meet today as it was in 1982?
  Raising the minimum wage by $1 an hour will directly help more than 
11 million workers and their families, as well as the millions more 
earning between the current minimum of $5.15 and the new minimum of 
$6.15 who will also see their wages rise. It will reward the 
responsibility of these workers with a more living wage. It will send 
the message that we understand that being a member of the ``working 
poor'' is one of the toughest places to be in America, with obstacles 
to reaching the middle class turning up at every turn. Raising the 
minimum wage would reduce one such obstacle. Nearly 200,000 workers in 
Indiana would benefit directly from a minimum wage increase.
  Some argue that raising the minimum wage will lead to higher 
unemployment. I am happy to say that has not been the case in Indiana. 
Since September 1996, the last time the Senate passed a minimum wage 
increase, 133,000 new jobs have been created in my home state. 
Unemployment has dropped by 26 percent and now stands at 2.9 percent, 
significantly lower than the national average.
  The good news in this debate is that it appears we all agree the 
minimum wage should be increased. We have our differences over the 
timing but by and large both Republicans and Democrats realize it is 
time to make work pay.
  The bad news is that there is a poison pill buried in this 
legislation. At the same time that they seek to raise the take home pay 
of working families, the Republican minimum wage proposal contains a 
provision that could reduce the wages of approximately 73 million 
American workers who are eligible to receive overtime pay.
  This overtime pay repeal provision would allow employers to eliminate 
the requirement that bonuses, commissions, and other forms of 
compensation based on productivity, quality and efficiency be part of a 
worker's ``regular rate'' of pay for purposes of calculating overtime 
pay. Eliminating this provision, and allowing bonuses to be excluded 
from overtime pay, would nullify the purposes for which the Fair Labor 
Standards Act was created. Employers would be provided an incentive to 
slash hourly pay rates or reduce the number of new jobs they create. 
Such cynical actions explain why so many Americans are frustrated with 
politics.
  Raising the minimum wage is something that most Americans regard as 
fair, given our economic prosperity, and 75 to 80 percent support an 
increase in every opinion poll. Yet some refuse

[[Page S374]]

to act in a way that genuinely responds to this concern. What's more, 
the bill in its current form will almost certainly provoke a 
presidential veto.
  Madam President, we have been down this road before. Both sides agree 
on an issue that needs to be addressed and then allow a partisan 
squabble to prevent us from getting it done. The American people did 
not send us here to spend all of our time arguing over our differences. 
They sent us here--and I came here--to find the common ground on which 
we agree.
  Now that the bankruptcy reform bill has passed the Senate, I urge my 
colleagues to work these issues out in conference. Let's begin the year 
focused not on what divides us but what unites us in the interests of 
America's working families.
  Madam President, I want to also take a moment to discuss the Hatch 
Amendment that is now part of this legislation. While I believe that 
the methamphetamine provisions of this amendment are good and something 
I could support, I voted against this amendment last year for I do not 
support the voucher language contained in this amendment. I do not 
support diverting needed resources from our public schools for voucher 
proposals. Deserting our public schools is not the answer to the 
problem. I believe we need greater flexibility and greater 
accountability in our nation's schools. This voucher language is of 
great concern to me. I sincerely hope that my colleagues will do the 
right thing and remove the voucher language from this bill during 
conference.

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