[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 54 (Thursday, April 3, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H2859]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE

  (Ms. EDWARDS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. EDWARDS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to call on just 25 
Republicans to join 195 Democrats to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 
an hour and to raise wages for tip workers whose $2.13-an-hour wages 
haven't been raised in 23 years. The current minimum wage of $7.25 an 
hour has failed to keep pace with the cost of living, leaving families 
struggling to fill the gap.
  Even if you work 40 hours a week at minimum wage, you still live 
below the poverty line. You rely on taxpayer-funded programs such as 
nutrition assistance, energy assistance, and housing assistance.
  In short, the profit lines of multinational corporations are being 
subsidized by taxpayers who fill the gap between the mandated minimum 
wage and what constitutes a fair wage, what people need to live on.
  This has an even greater impact for women, who often work for only 77 
cents on a dollar; for African American women, 64 cents on a dollar; 
for Latinos, 58 cents on a dollar. Seventy percent of low-wage workers 
in this country are women.
  So, essentially, we need to raise the tip minimum wage and raise the 
regular minimum wage. It is the fair thing to do. I call on my 
Republican colleagues, just 25 of them, to raise the minimum wage.

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