[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 26, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H1944-H1945]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE AND MINIMUM WAGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Carson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CARSON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I rise today to draw attention, 
once again, to an issue that some in this Congress seem to have 
forgotten: the millions of Americans who are unemployed or are working 
for wages that cannot support their families.
  Imagine being told that you have to support your family for the rest 
of your life with just a month's paycheck. If it sounds impossible to 
manage, it is because far too often it is.
  Low-income families have to make impossible choices between food and 
medicine. They often live in unsafe neighborhoods and send their kids 
to subpar schools because they have no other option. Getting paid the 
minimum wage has always been difficult, but it is getting harder year 
after year.
  If the minimum wage had been tied to inflation in 1960, it would be 
$10.10 today, or just over $20,000 per year. Now, someone making this 
today wouldn't be wealthy, but working full-time might at least allow 
them to make ends meet. For me, this is what our country is really all 
about. If you work hard, you can build a life for yourself and your 
family.
  Madam Speaker, this is why I am a very proud cosponsor of the Fair 
Minimum Wage Act, which finally raises the minimum wage for millions of 
Americans. Unfortunately, some of my colleagues oppose this very bill, 
claiming that raising the minimum wage should be a State-by-State 
decision. Now, that is fine if your State chooses

[[Page H1945]]

to raise its minimum wage, but if not, your constituents are no better 
off. They are still making $7.25 an hour.
  So I have just one question: If you are a well-intentioned, patriotic 
Republican who wants to leave the decision up to the States, are you 
prepared to explain to your constituents why they are worth less to you 
than the people across State lines?
  For my part, I do not want low-wage Hoosiers to make less than those 
in other States just because our general assembly decides not to act. 
Of course, I understand the argument that some people may work fewer 
hours and some may even lose their jobs. This may be true. But it is 
important to remember that we have raised our minimum wage in the past, 
and in the past, the very same argument has proven itself to be untrue. 
So I am very optimistic that American employers, and particularly 
Hoosier employers in my congressional district, will do what they can 
to weather a minimum wage increase without letting folks go.
  Now, unfortunately, this is not the only unnecessary struggle 
Congress has laid on America's low-income families this year. Today, 
our well-intentioned, patriotic Republican leaders continue to block an 
extension of emergency unemployment insurance, and because of 
congressional inaction, nearly 2 million Americans, Madam Speaker, were 
instantly cut off from their benefits in December, with 72,000 more 
being cut off each week.
  Many of my Republican friends have painted unemployment benefits as a 
slush fund for certain lazy Americans. This is not only incredibly 
offensive, it is untrue. Americans want to work, but in many 
communities, there are simply no jobs available. In our economic 
downturn, Madam Speaker, everything from restaurants to machine shops 
to retail stores closed their doors and are only now starting to come 
back.
  In Indianapolis, many Hoosiers are finding they no longer have the 
skills necessary for the modern workforce. Educated men and women with 
years of experience have to retrain before they even get rehired. 
Others have seen their industries simply disappear and have to prepare 
themselves for an entirely new career. This is far from laziness. 
Retraining and looking for a job is hard work with no pay. These 
Americans deserve our help covering expenses while they get back on 
their feet.
  Madam Speaker, my good House Republican friends have yet to bring a 
real jobs bill to the floor in the 113th Congress, instead, focusing 
continually on deregulation and repealing the Affordable Care Act. 
Meanwhile, they overlook that raising the minimum wage is the right 
thing to do, putting our country back on track.

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