[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 52 (Thursday, May 4, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S4056]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. CLINTON (for herself, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. 
        Leahy, Mr. Harkin, and Mr. Obama):
  S. 2725. A bill to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to 
provide for an increase in the Federal Minimum wage and to ensure that 
increases in the Federal minimum wage keep pace with any pay 
adjustments for Members of Congress; to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the ``Standing 
with Minimum Wage Earners Act''. This legislation will raise the 
minimum wage over the next two years and link future increases in the 
minimum wage to Congressional raises.
  Today, working parents earning the minimum wage are struggling to 
make ends meet and to build better lives for their children. The 
Federal minimum wage is currently $5.15 an hour, an amount that has not 
been increased since 1997. Sadly, during that time, Congress has given 
itself eight annual pay raises. We can no longer stand by and regularly 
give ourselves a pay increase while denying a minimum wage increase to 
help the more than 7 million men and women working hard across this 
nation. At a time when working families are struggling to put food on 
the table, it's critically important that we here in Washington do 
something. If Members of Congress need an annual cost of living 
adjustment, then certainly the lowest-paid members of our society do 
too.
  There are currently 13 million American children living in poverty 
across this country, and this number is increasing every day. Families 
work hard and yet cannot make enough money to support themselves. More 
families are falling into poverty every day, and these families are 
working 40 hours a week. This is unacceptable.
  Minimum wage workers have not had a raise in nearly a decade. The 
reality is a full-time job that pays minimum wage just does not provide 
enough money to support a family today. A single mother with two 
children who works 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year earns only $10,700 
a year. This amount--$10,700 a year--is almost $6,000 below the Federal 
poverty line for a family of three. We have a responsibility to help 
families earn a living wage.
  My legislation will benefit all minimum wage earners, and it would 
especially benefit women who represent a disproportionate number of 
low-wage workers. 61 percent of minimum wage earners are women, even 
though women only comprise 48 percent of the total workforce. And 
almost one-third of these working women are raising children.
  The women in my State of New York would feel the effects of a minimum 
wage increase most dramatically. New York is one of the top five States 
with the greatest number of low-wage women workers.
  In addition to helping America's hardest working families, raising 
the minimum wage will also narrow the dramatic income gap between the 
haves and the have-nots across the country. The average income of the 
richest fifth of New York State families is 8.1 times the average 
income of the poorest fifth. Nationwide, families in the top fifth made 
7.3 times more than those in the bottom fifth. This discrepancy needs 
to be fixed and my bill would be a step in the right direction towards 
fairness for America's hard-working families.
  My legislation would increase the minimum wage first to $5.85 an 
hour, then to $6.55 an hour, and ultimately to $7.25 an hour within the 
next two years. In addition, my legislation then ensures that every 
time Congress gives itself a raise in the future that Americans get a 
raise too. This is the right and fair thing to do for hardworking 
Americans.
  I would like to recognize my cosponsors Senators Kennedy, Jeffords, 
Leahy, Harkin and Obama and thank them for joining me in this effort.
  The ``Standing with Minimum Wage Earners Act'' has letters of support 
from Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the American 
Federation of Labor--Congress of Industrial Organization (AFL-CIO) and 
the Coalition for Human Needs.
  I ask my colleagues to recognize the moral aspect of this issue. It 
is simply wrong to pay people a wage that they can barely live on. And 
it is shameful to continue to give ourselves raises as millions of 
American families struggle to survive. We should raise the Federal 
minimum wage so that working parents can lift their children out of 
poverty. It is past time to make this investment in our children and 
families.
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