[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 5 (Wednesday, January 10, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H260]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              LIFTING MINIMUM WAGE WORKERS OUT OF POVERTY

  (Mr. WELCH of Vermont asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Mr. Speaker, $2.32 for a gallon of gas, $2.99 
for a gallon of milk, $20 or $25 for a single day of childcare. These 
are real prices and, too often, real choices that working Americans 
face every day.
  In Vermont, and across America, we have had a proud tradition of 
self-reliance and sense of community. We need to combine these two 
values, self-reliance on the one hand and community on the other, by 
rewarding work and making work pay.
  We send a message every day to our citizens and our workers that we 
value work and that government has a role to play in ensuring 
opportunity to everyone willing to contribute. It is time we matched 
that message with our own leadership.
  It is no accident that in Vermont and more than 20 States around the 
country, Republicans and Democrats, working together, have led in the 
effort to reward work with a reasonable minimum wage above our national 
minimum last set nearly a decade ago.
  There are few more important tasks before us than addressing the 
growing economic gap between America's wealthiest citizens and low 
income workers.
  Last year, millionaires were given tax breaks that put an average of 
$40,000 in their pockets, and yet middle class workers who earn less 
than $20,000 received just two dollars. Two dollars--for the whole 
year. That is rewarding wealth rather than work.
  Today a full-time minimum wage worker earns just $10,712 annually--
more than $2,000 below the poverty line for a family of two. Asking 
millions of our neighbors to work full time without a wage above 
poverty is wrong.
  I believe that Congress must raise the federal minimum wage to $7.25 
an hour to help life every minimum wage worker out of poverty.
  Today and together, we can begin to restore a balance, by rewarding 
work and not just wealth, acknowledging we are all in this together.

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