[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 15, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H240]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
                  PROTECTING WORKING AMERICAN FAMILIES

  (Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of tens of 
thousands of my fellow Texans, the working poor and the unemployed, 
whom our economic recovery is leaving behind.
  Blessed with ample resources, many of our Nation's leading companies 
and universities, and a ``can do'' attitude, Texas has been America's 
leader in job creation and economic growth for the past decade.
  Unfortunately, this economic success has not reached all Texans. Last 
year, the Labor Department announced that over 450,000 Texans earn at 
or below the Federal minimum wage, more than any other State in the 
country.
  Nationwide, 3.6 million Americans earn at or below minimum wage at 
$7.25 an hour. This is just over $15,000 for someone working 40 hours a 
week for a full year, or more than $4,400 below the poverty line for a 
family of three.
  These aren't just kids in high school or college earning minimum 
wage. Less than a quarter of the minimum wage workers are teenagers and 
nearly 40 percent are over the age of 30. This is simply not right. 
Nobody, no matter the city or State, can survive, let alone raise a 
family, on $15,000.
  Madam Speaker, it is time for the economic recovery to benefit all 
Americans, not just the fortunate. Too many of our friends and 
neighbors are being left behind, and I call on this Chamber to bring up 
legislation that would increase the minimum wage and renew critical 
emergency unemployment benefits.

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