[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 20, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H4224]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1115
                              MINIMUM WAGE

  (Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, this week the Labor-
H appropriations bill was supposed to be on the floor, but at the last 
minute, the House Republican leadership stripped the bill from the 
schedule. It appears that the GOP is delaying a vote on this bill 
solely because it includes an increase in the minimum wage.
  The minimum wage is now at its lowest point in half a century. Last 
week the Appropriations Committee voted to gradually increase the 
minimum wage. This increase will provide a much-needed boost to 7 
million Americans, hard-working people who get up every morning and go 
to work.
  It is unfortunate that for almost a decade the Republican leadership 
has been forcing working families to make impossible choices, choices 
between paying the rent and buying groceries or between paying the 
heating bill and buying much-needed prescription medication.
  An increase in the minimum wage is about fairness, and that is why 
the American people overwhelmingly support an increase. Now that the 
House Appropriations Committee has acted, it is time for the Republican 
leadership to bring this bill up for a vote.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people have had enough of not having enough 
to get by.

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