[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 27 (Monday, March 13, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E287]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE ACT

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                               speech of

                         HON. MICHAEL P. FORBES

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 9, 2000

  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, I rise before you to urge all of my 
colleagues to vote to raise the minimum wage to $6.15 over a 2-year 
period.
  The cost of living on Long Island is extremely high. Long Islanders 
are burdened by high property taxes, high State taxes, and extremely 
high housing prices. Currently, the median price for a house on the 
Island is approximately $200,000. In addition, Long Island has the 
highest electric rates in the United States.
  Unfortunately, when all of these factors are combined, many people, 
who have lived on Long Island all their lives and are now raising their 
families there, can no longer afford to live on the Island.
  These people are our child care workers, our home health workers, our 
nursing aides and other service workers, and many are single mothers. 
These workers who are vital to our communities are making minimum wage 
or slightly above. By raising the level of the minimum wage in 2 years, 
we can help give these Long Islanders a chance and keep them and their 
families in our communities.
  In talking to the Long Island Housing Partnership, an organization 
that helps low-income families buy homes, I learned that a two-parent 
family, in which both parents are making the current minimum wage, 
cannot qualify to buy new affordable housing that will be built in East 
Patchogue, Long Island. This hard-working family's income is too low to 
qualify. This family cannot even afford to rent an apartment at this 
rate.
  Let's give Long Island families a fighting chance. Vote to raise the 
minimum wage in two increments.

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