[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 22, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S1556]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE MINIMUM WAGE

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I will take a moment at this time to 
review where we are on the question of the increase in the minimum 
wage. We have been trying to get, over the period of the last 2 years, 
a vote on a 2-year increase in the minimum wage--50 cents this year and 
50 cents next year--for the 1 million Americans who are at the lowest 
level of the economic ladder.
  These men and women are the ones working as aides for schoolteachers 
in our schools. They are working in nursing homes taking care of 
millions of our senior citizens in those conditions. These are the 
people who clean out the buildings at night so American businesses can 
continue to function effectively over the course of this extraordinary 
expansion. But as we see this extraordinary expansion in terms of our 
American economy, the group that has not benefited is the one at the 
lowest end of the economic ladder. These are men and women playing by 
the rules and working hard. They have not been able to see the 
appropriate kind of increases in the minimum wage.
  If the minimum wage today were to have the same purchasing power it 
had in 1968, it would be $7.50 an hour. This whole group of Americans 
have not only not participated in the expansion of the American 
economy, they have fallen further and further behind.
  That is why we believe we ought to have an opportunity to address 
this issue on the floor of the Senate, and do it in a timely way.
  There are questions about what the Senate is doing and how busy the 
Senate is. We are prepared to have a very short time limit. Every 
Member of this body knows what this issue is about. I think every 
Member of this body has voted effectively on the question of the 
minimum wage over a period of time. It is a rather simple, basic, and 
fundamental issue. It is an issue of fairness to millions of Americans. 
It is an issue involving women because close to 70 percent of all of 
the minimum-wage workers are women. It is an issue of civil rights 
because the majority of the workers who get the minimum wage are men 
and women of color. It is a children's issue because the majority of 
women who are receiving the minimum wage have children.
  This has enormous implications in terms of how these children are 
going to grow up, what kind of home they are going to be in, and how 
much time their parents are going to have in terms of spending quality 
time with these children when they are working one or two, and in some 
instances three different minimum-wage jobs.
  It is ultimately and finally a fairness issue where the overwhelming 
majority of Americans believe, and believe very strongly, I think, that 
men and women who work 40 hours a week for 52 weeks a year ought not 
live in poverty in the United States of America.
  That is what this issue is basically all about, and we in the Senate 
are being denied the opportunity to vote on that issue. That is what is 
offensive.
  This body was prepared to vote on a pay increase of $4,600 to be 
implemented immediately. They were prepared to go ahead on that. They 
are not prepared to delay that. But when you talk about a $150 increase 
in the minimum wage, they want to spread it over 3 years.
  This is an issue of fairness. People ought to have accountability. 
When Members go to the polls, people in their congressional and 
senatorial districts ought to know how they stand on this issue of 
fairness. We are being denied that opportunity by a majority in the 
Senate. That is wrong.
  Anyone who believes we are not going to continue after this issue 
doesn't understand the rules of the Senate. We are going to be voting 
on a 2-year increase in the minimum wage. We are going to be voting on 
it soon, and we are going to be voting on it again and again and again. 
So get used to it because you are going to vote on it. You will be able 
to go back and say: Oh, yes. I voted one time to increase it for 3 
years. Yes; I voted against it 15 times for 2 years. And for all those 
in small business, I voted for a $73 billion tax break, unpaid for.

  The House bill was $123 billion. We don't want to hear from that side 
of the aisle about fiscal responsibility anymore--$73 billion at the 
drop of a hat and $123 billion over in the House of Representatives and 
90 percent of it goes to the top 5 percent of the American taxpayers. 
Isn't that interesting?
  We are trying to get a 50-cent increase for the lowest paid 
Americans--tax break; 90 percent of it goes to the highest paid. We are 
not going to permit Members of the Senate to vote. We have a majority. 
We are not going to permit a majority of the Senate to vote on whether 
we are going to have a very simple concept of 50 cents this year--50 
cents. No; we are going to take our $4,600 and put it in our pockets 
and walk out of here. For every single year of that, an increase in the 
minimum wage is being delayed.
  Do you think they are going to forget that? The other side thinks it 
is going to go away. It isn't going to go away. No matter how many 
times these little proposals are going to come up in terms of consent 
agreements, no matter how many times you are going to try to close out 
opportunities to bring this up, no matter how many times you go through 
the parliamentary gymnastics on this kind of issue, it is coming back 
again and again and again. So get used to it because you are going to 
get it. You are going to vote on it. Americans are going to know who is 
going to stand for fairness and decency and who is opposed to it and 
blocked it.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana is recognized.
  Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be recognized in 
recognition of the fact that very shortly we may have an agreement on 
the crop insurance risk management debate. At the suggestion of the 
leadership, I would like to initiate debate on the subject, and perhaps 
we can move along expeditiously in the event we finally have a 
parliamentary structure in which to work.

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