[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 58 (Friday, April 30, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E716]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             INTRODUCING THE FAIR MINIMUM WAGE ACT OF 2004

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                          HON. MAJOR R. OWENS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 30, 2004

  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, today I am joining with 75 of my colleagues 
to introduce the ``Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2004''--legislation that 
will give hard-working Americans a much needed raise. These minimum 
wage employees--many of whom work full-time, year-round--earn no more 
than $5.15 an hour. The vast majority do not even receive enough pay in 
their pockets to lift them above the poverty line.
  According to a very stark alarming report, 48 percent of all African 
American men in New York City are unemployed. Without a job, they do 
not earn any wages. This bill is not the vehicle to help give the 
unemployed jobs, but it underscores the importance of increasing the 
minimum wage. How can we allow full-time minimum wage workers to live 
in poverty? Last time I looked, we were not a third world nation. Those 
with jobs at the bottom of the pay scale deserve fair compensation for 
their labor.
  More than a quarter of the constituents I represent in Brooklyn are 
minimum wage workers. They include the very same child care and nursing 
home workers, dish washers and laundry workers, taxi drivers, hotel 
clerks and mail room workers everyone relies upon. Far too many of them 
are single mothers or fathers, with children to support. According to a 
recent Russell Sage Foundation study, they are included among a 
staggering 29 percent of all working families in America who cannot 
earn enough to keep a basic living standard. That means that close to 
one out of every three working families in America are just not making 
ends meet. Some are barely hanging on.
  Why do the Republicans continue to nickel and dime these hard-working 
Americans in low-wage jobs? The last increase in the minimum wage was 
in 1997. This Democratic bill would give them a pay raise in 3 easy 
steps: from $5.85 an hour in the two months following enactment, to 
$6.45 an hour a year after that. On the following year's anniversary, 
the minimuum wage would finally reach $7.00 an hour.
  Why do Republicans reject this bill, giving workers at the bottom of 
the pay scale a much needed raise? Republicans tout tired old 
arguments, such as ``only teens work for the minimum wage;'' or, ``it 
will hurt small businesses and the economy.'' In truth, recent history 
proves exactly the reverse. Once the dust settled after the 1997 
increase in the minimum wage, more than 10 million new jobs were 
created and over half of them (6 million) were in minimum wage service 
jobs.
  The dividing line between the political parties could not be greater 
on this issue. There's a saying--``No Shame in My Game''--that minimum-
wage workers use sometimes. It is a kind of shorthand that signals a 
tough and resilient work ethic among the working poor, despite the low 
wages, lack of benefits and poor conditions. These workers are 
absolutely correct: there is no shame in their work ethic and daily 
efforts. The only shame is in the Congressional game, if the 
Republicans continue to block this bill and our efforts to give minimum 
wage workers a long-delayed, essential raise.

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