[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 87 (Thursday, June 29, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1325]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE

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                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 29, 2006

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, it is imperative that Congress act now to 
raise the minimum wage. In 2004, 37 million Americans lived below the 
poverty line, a 1.1 million increase from the year before. In 2004, 13 
million children in America lived below the poverty line and more than 
one in six children was poor.
  Yet in the richest country on earth, there is no guarantee that a 
full time job will lift a family out of a situation of dire poverty and 
need. That's because full-time year round minimum wage earnings of 
$5.15 an hour equal leaves a family of three 31 percent below the 
poverty line. A minimum wage worker, working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks 
a year earns $10,700 a year, $5,000 below the poverty line for a family 
of three.
  The current minimum wage fails to provide enough income to enable 
minimum wage workers to afford adequate housing. According to the 
National Low Income Housing Coalition, an employed full time worker 
would need to earn an hourly wage of at least $15.78 to afford a two-
bedroom rental nationally. At the current minimum wage, a family with 
two full time year round minimum wage earners would fall short of this 
standard by $5.48 collectively. It's no wonder that so many families 
struggle to put a roof over their heads and food on the table. A 2005 
study found that 40 percent of adults seeking emergency food aid were 
employed.
  We can directly help these families and children by increasing the 
federal minimum wage. It is estimated that over 7 million workers would 
receive an increase in their hourly wage if the minimum wage were 
raised to just $7.25 an hour, as proposed in Congressman Miller's 
legislation, the Fair Minimum Wage Act. An additional 8.2 million 
workers earning up to a dollar above the new minimum wage would also 
benefit.
  What kind of Nation have we become when work ceases to be a bridge 
out of poverty? A nation in which a basic full time job doesn't protect 
against hunger, homelessness, or poverty. It is a travesty that in the 
face of these realities, the realities that working Americans confront 
daily, Congress has not raised the minimum wage since 1997. We can and 
must change this by increasing the minimum wage now.

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