[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 172 (Thursday, December 5, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1801-E1802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE AND THE TPP

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MAXINE WATERS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 5, 2013

  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the gentleman from Wisconsin 
(Rep. Mark Pocan) for organizing last night's Special Order Hour on 
raising the minimum wage and the negotiations over the Trans-Pacific 
Partnership (TPP).
  I very much welcome this opportunity to talk about trade issues, the 
minimum wage, and the growing wage gap in our country because they are 
closely related, in different ways, to one of the most urgent social, 
economic and political challenges of our time. I'm talking about the 
problem of growing inequality in the United States.
  Over the past three decades, income inequality in the United States 
has been steadily on the rise. In fact, just before the 2008 financial 
crisis, the U.S. reached levels of inequality not seen since the late 
1920s.
  Today, the United States has the highest level of inequality of any 
advanced industrial nation. According to an analysis by the AFL-CIO, 
the average CEO at 327 available companies in the S&P 500 index is paid 
354 times the average worker.
  Moreover, a recent study showed that in 2010, the top 1 percent of 
U.S. families captured as much as 93 percent of the Nation's income 
growth gained during the economic recovery. So, this means that the 
most unequal advanced industrial economy in the world is becoming more 
so.
  It is time to have an open debate and discussion on the wage gap in 
our country. This is important from a moral standpoint, as a matter of 
equity and fairness. But it is also important from an economic and 
political standpoint. That is, excessive inequality not only undermines 
social and political cohesion, it has also been shown to have negative 
effects on growth.
  Recent research at the IMF has shown that excessive inequality slows 
growth because depressed earnings lead to weaker demand and lower 
consumption.
  Now, I understand that in a capitalist system, some degree of 
inequality is necessary for the function of a market economy, since it 
creates incentives to work hard and take risks. Left entirely to its 
own, however, the market system will produce more inequality than is 
economically necessary. And here in America, we have much more 
inequality than is necessary for efficiency.
  This is also a political problem. We now have an increasing degree of 
resistance on the part of a lot of Americans to efforts to enter into 
new trade agreements because they are viewed as elevating the interests 
of capital over all other considerations.
  Last month, I joined with 150 of my congressional colleagues in a 
letter to the President to express our serious concerns about the 
ongoing negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). We urged 
the President to engage in broader and deeper consultations with 
Members of Congress about what will be included in this broad-ranging 
international trade agreement. In addition to tariff issues, this 
agreement could include provisions related to labor, food, natural 
resources, the environment, patent and copyright law, health care, 
energy, telecommunications and financial services. As the Ranking 
Member of the House Financial Services Committee, it is particularly 
important to me that my committee is consulted about any provisions 
affecting financial services.
  Past trade negotiations have resulted in NAFTA, the creation of the 
World Trade Organization, and Free Trade Agreements with Central 
American countries, Peru, Panama, Colombia, and South Korea. All of 
these agreements were promoted by large corporations, which claimed 
they would create jobs. But these were empty promises, and many of 
these same large corporations have continued to ship jobs overseas.
  What American workers need is good jobs with good pay. That is why we 
need to make this discussion of the wage gap and the minimum wage a top 
priority.
  The Federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 per hour for the 
past four years. The value of the minimum wage has not kept up with the 
cost of living, and record-breaking corporate profits have not trickled 
down to working people.
  The real value of the minimum wage is at a historic low. Today, 40 
percent of American workers actually make less than the minimum wage 
was worth back in 1968. That is almost one quarter of American workers. 
Too many American families who depend upon the minimum wage are seeking 
Food Stamps and Section 8 housing assistance and are constant visitors 
to our food banks.
  The American people understand the importance of fair wages, and many 
States and local communities have taken matters into their own hands. 
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 19 States 
and the District of Columbia already have a minimum wage that is higher 
than the Federal minimum wage.
  The National Conference of State Legislatures also reports that in 
2013, the legislatures in California, Connecticut, New York, and Rhode 
Island all passed bills to increase the minimum wage beginning in 2014. 
The legislature in California increased the minimum wage

[[Page E1802]]

to $10 an hour by 2016. In New Jersey, voters approved a constitutional 
amendment to increase the minimum wage. In Maryland, the county 
councils in Montgomery and Prince George's counties both voted to 
increase the minimum wage to $11.50, higher than any rate currently in 
effect in the United States.
  The Fair Minimum Wage Act--H.R. 1010--would increase the Federal 
minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour over three years 
and then index it to inflation. I am one of 150 cosponsors of this 
bill.
  It is time for Congress to debate the issue of raising the minimum 
wage, as well as other policies to address the growing wage gap in our 
country. This debate must take place in full view of the American 
public.
  Increasing the minimum wage will send a clear signal to Americans 
that we understand that the benefits of growth and free trade need to 
be more broadly shared in society. It's the right thing to do morally, 
economically, and politically.

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