[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 129 (Wednesday, November 15, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H8659]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        ELECTION DAY PRIORITIES

  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take Mrs. 
McCarthy's time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from New 
York is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. OWENS. On election day, Mr. Speaker, there was one message that 
was sent that seems to be ignored, one very positive message. Six 
States had on their agenda referendums on the minimum wage. They wanted 
to raise the minimum wage at the State level. In all six States those 
provisions passed. The voters have sent us a message. I think they 
spoke in those six States for the sentiment right across the entire 
Nation.
  People are a little upset about our refusal to govern here, our 
refusal to raise the Federal minimum wage above the present level of 
$5.25 an hour. They want to see action. They are taking action at the 
State level. And I think one of the things that we should do here, one 
of the first things we should do when we return in December, is vote to 
raise the minimum wage. We ought to send that positive message.
  While there are debates and speculations on a number of other things 
that the voters said to us, while there is a great deal of debate about 
redeployment, about a pull-out of troops in Iraq, while there are still 
people who want to accuse us of cutting and running; all those things 
will be happening for a while, but it is a simple matter that we have 
not raised the minimum wage in 9 years. It is a very simple matter. The 
Members of Congress have enjoyed increases which amount to more than 
$30,000 over that same period.
  We have heard again and again what the consequences are about not 
raising the minimum wage. We know that a family on minimum wage is 
earning $10,200 a year. If they work every day, 40 hours a week, 52 
weeks a year, they come out with a little more than $10,000 a year on 
the minimum wage. They say there are not many people still on the 
minimum wage, but the statistics show differently. The statistics show 
that families also depend on young people, who also go into the work 
force and are earning a minimum wage. They need to earn more also.
  We made a lot out of boasting about the fact that America has now 
reached the point of our population being 300 million. We have pointed 
out that we are the third largest nation in the world, and that is 
something to be proud of. I think it is. But let us take a look at that 
300 million in terms of people who are able to be productive, people 
able to contribute something to society, people able to take care of 
themselves. That is the way I define the middle class.
  The middle class consists of people who can take care of themselves 
because they have the capacity to earn income to take care of 
themselves, and they also have the capacity to make some contributions 
to the larger society. We need a middle class. We need more middle 
class folks.
  It is said that the whole nation of Japan is middle class. They do 
not have a poverty class. I do not know whether it is true or not, but 
there is a whole lot to it in terms of income levels in Japan. All 
other nations still have problems with different stratifications in 
society. In the case of America, 300 million we are, but stop and think 
about the fact that, in China, with 1.2 billion people, in 2 or 3 
years, they expect one-fourth of the Chinese to enter the middle class. 
They have a rapidly growing middle class. That means, in 2 or 3 years, 
China will have a middle class which is 300 million, as large as the 
entire population of the United States. And India has a similar 
population, and the dynamics of the economy at work in India are 
similar to those in China. They will have a middle class of 300 million 
people.
  Three hundred million people is about the number of the European 
common market also. Three hundred million people is the number of 
people of African descent across the world who speak English. So 300 
million people, let us look at it in the perspective of, if we are 
going to maintain our leadership in the world in a competitive global 
environment, then we will need all 300 million of our Americans to 
become productive citizens. That means they ought to be brought into 
the middle class.
  The minimum wage is just a small step forward. You have to also 
improve education. You have to also take away the burden of having to 
pay for health care. All those things have to happen. But the simplest 
thing we can do, the thing we should do when we come back in December, 
is send a message to the American people that we are going to raise the 
minimum wage. We are going to move in that one small way toward the 
creation and the sustenance of a middle class, people who will be able 
to send their children to college and people who will be able to make a 
contribution to the global competition that we are going to find 
ourselves in.
  Unfortunately, recent reports by the Associated Press show that 
certain minorities are lagging behind. Latinos and blacks are lagging 
behind whites, and Asians are also lagging behind whites in terms of 
the income gap. The income gap is growing instead of shrinking. So we 
have work to do, and step one is let's pass the minimum wage as fast as 
possible. Let's move it up to $7.25 an hour. That is the least we can 
do before the end of the session.

                          ____________________