[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 34 (Friday, February 28, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H2088]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE

  (Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my fellow 
colleagues to allow an up-or-down vote on H.R. 1010, which would give 
at least 25 million Americans a pay raise. For many Americans, most of 
whom are women, who work 40 hours a week at $7.25 an hour, they gross a 
mere $290 a week. That comes out to $15,000 per year, just barely above 
the Federal poverty guidelines.
  In America, no one should have to work full time and raise their 
family in poverty. In Georgia alone, raising the minimum wage would 
give more than 500,000 hardworking people a raise. Most Americans 
support raising the minimum wage, but my Republican colleagues refuse 
to give it a vote. Obviously, many of them have never experienced life 
working at $7.25 an hour.
  The American people are calling for an economy that works for 
everyone--where a hard day's work earns a decent day's pay, and 
everyone has an opportunity to build a brighter future.

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