[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 31 (Tuesday, March 5, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H968]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              MINIMUM WAGE

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. I rise in strong support of the Fair Minimum Wage Act, 
introduced by Congressman George Miller, which will raise the minimum 
wage over 3 years to $10.10 per hour and then index the wage to 
inflation. It is long past time to get this done.
  The minimum wage in America used to be equal to about half of average 
wages. Today, at $7.25 an hour, it is barely a third. The purchasing 
power of the minimum wage has been dropping steadily since 1968. If the 
minimum wage kept up with inflation over the last 40 years, it would be 
at $10.55 an hour.
  This failure to keep pace particularly hurts women, who make up 
nearly two out of three workers making the minimum wage. At that rate, 
a year of full-time work comes out to $14,500 a year. For a mom with 
two kids, it's over $3,000 below the poverty line. For tipped workers, 
the situation is even worse. They make only $2.13 an hour.
  Low minimum wage is not just bad for workers. It's bad for business 
and the economy. Low wages limit consumer demand, which stalls our 
country's economic growth. It hurts everyone. Raising the minimum wage 
would not just mean a raise for 21 million workers, it would create 
140,000 new jobs and boost our GDP by $33 billion.
  We've waited long enough. It's time to make sure all our workers make 
a decent pay for a hard day's work. I urge my colleagues to pass this 
legislation.

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