[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 30 (Thursday, March 16, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E344]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. CORRINE BROWN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 9, 2000

  Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of an 
increase in the minimum wage. Last year in my state of Florida, more 
than half a million people earned the minimum wage, a full 10% of the 
state's employees. Many of these workers are women, and most are adults 
who are trying to support a family. Don't be fooled by the claims that 
these workers are all teenagers. In fact, seventy-two percent of our 
nation's minimum wage workers are adults, and their family incomes are 
well below the national average. For a family of four to live above the 
poverty threshold, which is $17,000 a year, the minimum wage would have 
to be increased to $8.19 an hour!
  Since the 1980s, real earnings for our nation's workers have declined 
by 12 percent, while the wealthiest 20 percent swallowed up almost all 
of the increases. It's ironic that productivity, profits, executive pay 
and the stock market are rising, but the incomes of the poorest working 
families in our nation are not.
  The last time we raised the minimum wage, 10 million American workers 
benefitted and no jobs were lost. The 1996 minimum wage increase 
provided a pay raise to 10 million workers, and since then the economy 
has continued to speed ahead, creating thousands of new jobs.
  H.R. 3846 shortchanges minimum wage workers by stretching out a $1 an 
hour increase over 3 years, making low wage workers wait as long as 
possible before receiving the full increase.
  In addition, this bill is loaded down with tax breaks for big 
business, and by doing so it threatens Social Security and other 
invaluable programs! Not surprisingly, 73% of the beneficiaries of 
these tax breaks are the wealthiest 1% of our citizens! This is another 
case of Reverse Robin Hood--stealing from the poor and working people, 
and giving tax breaks to the wealthy.
  The Joint Committee on Taxation reports that this will cost our 
country $123 billion over the next ten years!
  I urge my colleagues to vote for a fair minimum wage bill and support 
the Democratic substitute. Stand up for our country's hard working 
minimum wage earners and vote ``no'' on the Republican measures.

                          ____________________