[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 12, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S957-S958]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 356--DESIGNATING FEBRUARY 13, 2014, AS ``$2.13 DAY''

  Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Markey, Ms. Warren, Mrs. 
Murray, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Casey, Mr. Whitehouse, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. 
Sanders, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Levin, Mr. 
Durbin, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Heinrich, and Mr. Franken) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 356

       Whereas $2.13 per hour is the Federal minimum wage that an 
     employer is required to pay a tipped employee (as defined in 
     section 3(t) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
     U.S.C. 203(t))) as a cash wage under section 3(m) of such Act 
     (29 U.S.C. 203(m)) (referred to in this preamble as the 
     ``Federal minimum wage for tipped employees'');
       Whereas when the Federal minimum wage for a tipped employee 
     was established in 1966, such wage was linked to the Federal 
     minimum wage for a covered nonexempt employee under section 
     6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
     206(a)(1));
       Whereas while the Federal minimum wage for a covered 
     nonexempt employee increased in 2009, the Federal minimum 
     wage for a tipped employee has not changed in more than 20 
     years;
       Whereas in the 1980s, the Federal minimum wage for a tipped 
     employee reached 60 percent of the Federal minimum wage for a 
     covered nonexempt employee, and in 2014, the Federal minimum 
     wage for a tipped employee is only 29 percent of the $7.25 
     per hour Federal minimum wage for a covered nonexempt 
     employee;
       Whereas tipped employees work in many occupations, 
     including working as restaurant servers, airport attendants, 
     hotel workers, valets, and salon workers;
       Whereas $2.13 per hour is such a low wage that tipped 
     employees are dependent on the discretional contributions of 
     consumers for the majority of their income;
       Whereas 7 States have 1 minimum wage for both tipped 
     employees and covered nonexempt employees, and the restaurant 
     industry has continued to thrive in such States;
       Whereas in States with a minimum wage for a tipped employee 
     that is higher than $2.13 per hour, the poverty rate for 
     tipped employees is lower than the poverty rate for tipped 
     employees in States without such a higher minimum wage for 
     tipped employees;
       Whereas restaurant servers have a poverty rate that is 3 
     times that of the general workforce and are nearly 2 times 
     more likely to depend on the supplemental nutrition 
     assistance program established under the Food and Nutrition 
     Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) than the general 
     workforce;
       Whereas States with a minimum wage for a tipped employee of 
     $2.13 per hour have a poverty rate for employees of color 
     that is nearly double that of States with the highest minimum 
     wage for a tipped employee;
       Whereas women account for 66 percent of all tipped 
     employees and 71 percent of restaurant servers;
       Whereas 1/3 of tipped employees are parents who work hard 
     to support their families;
       Whereas the Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that from 
     2008 to 2018, the food preparation and serving sector, as 
     defined by the Bureau, would add more than 1,000,000 jobs;
       Whereas such food preparation and serving sector has the 
     lowest median wages of the top 20 growth sectors; and
       Whereas raising the Federal minimum wage for a tipped 
     employee would provide hardworking people in the United 
     States with more just wages, lift families in the United 
     States out of poverty, and provide economic security to 
     tipped employees in the United States: Now, therefore, be it

[[Page S958]]

       Resolved, That--
       (1) the Senate designates Thursday, February 13, 2014, as 
     ``$2.13 Day''; and
       (2) it is the sense of the Senate that the cash wage that 
     an employer is required to pay a tipped employee (as defined 
     in section 3(t) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
     U.S.C. 203(t))) under section 3(m) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 
     203(m)) should be increased to 70 percent of the Federal 
     minimum wage for a covered nonexempt employee under section 
     6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
     206(a)(1)).

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