[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 30, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2532-S2535]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE MINIMUM WAGE

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise this morning to talk about the 
matter before us, which is the minimum wage. Today the Senate will vote 
on cloture on the motion to proceed to the Minimum Wage Fairness Act, 
the legislation we are considering, which would increase the minimum 
wage to $10.10 an hour over the course of 3 years. We do not know what 
the result will be today, but we are working to get as much support as 
possible because getting past this first hurdle, of course, is 
essential to getting the bill passed, to giving Americans who are 
working very hard a fair shot at some economic security that they may 
not have right now.
  We have a lot of work to do because there are still people out 
there--especially here in Washington--who are making arguments that do 
not make a lot of sense and, to me, do not make a lot of sense to the 
people of Pennsylvania. Where I came from, when someone works a full 
day and a full week, they should not--most people believe they should 
have a fair shot at making not just a living but making sure they have 
enough of a living that they can lift themselves out of poverty. You 
should not work 40 hours a week and be paid a poverty wage. 
Unfortunately, that is the case for far too many Americans.
  Increasing the minimum wage would help workers make ends meet, and it 
would offer a lift up the ladder to the middle class and boost the 
economy by boosting new spending. We know that is the case. All the 
data shows that. All the studies show that. But we still have to make 
the case to some folks here in Washington.
  Wages for most workers are not keeping up with the cost of living, 
the cost of paying a mortgage and raising a family and some of the 
other middle-class concerns. The pay for minimum-wage workers is not 
keeping up with inflation.
  Six years have passed since the last minimum wage increase was 
enacted. Pay for the middle class is stagnant, while the gap between 
the haves and the have-nots has widened substantially.
  The chart on my right tells the story of what could happen if we are 
able to pass an increase in the minimum wage. It is about giving a fair 
shot to our families and to our workers by raising the minimum wage. 
Increasing the minimum wage helps a lot of folks across the country 
more broadly. Of course, it helps working families.
  Look at these numbers. Workers who would get a raise: 27.8 million 
workers across the country. There are very few things the Senate can do 
today or this week that would provide that kind of direct economic 
jump-start to so many communities and to 27.8 million people.
  Look at the boost to GDP. I mentioned that earlier--a $22 billion 
boost to the economy. Again, there are very few things, if any, we 
could pass in the Senate that would provide that kind of jump-start to 
the economy when we need it.
  The number of jobs created across the country: some 85,000. Some 
think the number is higher than that. I know this would have a job-
increase impact into the thousands in Pennsylvania.
  Look at the number for women. There is mostly an issue about women 
who are working every day trying to support their families. It also has 
an impact, obviously, on children. Women who would get a raise: 15.3 
million women across the country. I would like to hear someone who is 
on the other side of the aisle demonstrate to women across this country 
what they will do in place of that if they are going to say that now is 
not the time for a raise in the minimum wage. What about those women 
who are shouldering most of the burden to raise their families and to 
make their way in a tough economy?
  Children with a parent who would get a raise: 14 million children 
have a parent who would get a boost in the minimum wage. Again, I would 
say: What is your answer or what is your strategy to give a boost but 
really, more appropriately stated, a measure of security to our 
children? I am not sure I can name another action this Senate could 
take to make sure 14 million children have a measure of security that 
they do not have today even in an economy that--in some parts of the 
country--is getting a little better.

  Americans overall lifted out of poverty: 2 million Americans will be 
lifted out of poverty if we pass an increase in the minimum wage.
  Again, I would ask anyone on the other side, is there an action, is 
there a bill, is there a vote, is there a step we can take in the 
Senate this week or next week that would do the same to help 14 million 
children, to lift 2 million Americans out of poverty? I do not know of 
any. I will wait and see what their answer is. I hope they will answer 
that question because they should. This is a debate. They should answer 
that question. Tell us what you will do to help 14 million children if 
you are not going to support lifting or raising the minimum wage.
  Less spending on food stamps: $4.6 billion per year. We hear attacks 
all the time--unjustified though they are--from the other side about 
SNAP. We used to call it the food stamp program. They are always 
saying: We need to reduce spending in that program. Well, instead of 
cutting people, as so many in this body seem to want to do every day of 
the week, voting for budgets that would slash support for people who 
need help just having a measure of food security, being able to feed 
their families, instead of doing that, why don't we support raising the 
minimum wage, lifting them out of poverty, lifting them out of the 
dependence they have to have on an important program such as SNAP? That 
is the better way to reduce those numbers. It is not just a question of 
what is right; it is a question of the best economic strategy for that 
worker, for his or her family, and for the economy overall.
  Finally, veterans who would get a raise: 1 million veterans. We hear 
speeches all the time here in Washington from both sides of the aisle. 
In most cases--in almost every case--they are heartfelt and they are 
honest about the support that one Senator or a group of Senators 
provide to help our veterans. I have no doubt that people are sincere 
when they say that. But there are some opportunities around here where 
you can take action. You can cast a vote that has a direct benefit not 
just for 14 million children but in this case for 1 million veterans.
  You have to ask yourself, if you cannot cast that vote, what are you 
going to do? What are you going to do with the power you have to cast 
your vote, to stand and say: I support an increase in the minimum wage. 
If you are not going to do that, if you are not going to vote for this 
or ever vote for this, then what are you going to do to help those same 
1 million veterans or those same 14 million children or those 15.3 
million women? If you have an answer for that, if you have a different 
strategy that will get us to these numbers, let's hear it. I would like 
to hear the answer to that. I have not heard it yet. Maybe I have not 
been listening. But I will try to listen closely to what the arguments 
are on the other side of the aisle.
  So the hashtag #raisethewage is a good way to summarize why this is 
so fundamental but really so simple. This is about giving people a fair 
shot. It is not about some program people are asking to be created. It 
is about basic fairness in giving folks a fair shot in an economy that 
is still very tough for a lot of families.

[[Page S2533]]

  I think it is critical that we emphasize some of these numbers, but 
it is also really about the human trauma so many families have been 
living through. So many of them have lived through the recession and 
are still climbing out of the hole they are in. They have lost their 
jobs; they may have run out of unemployment insurance; they may have 
lost their homes in the course of all of that. There is no question and 
it is irrefutable that the cascading effect of that trauma hits not 
only the worker and maybe, if they have a spouse or a partner, the 
person standing next to them, but it also has a cascading effect on the 
children as well and the family and then on all of us.
  We all have a stake in this. The idea of raising the minimum wage is 
about some other group of people out there who are far away from us 
makes no sense. If we raise the minimum wage, the economy for everyone 
gets better. Folks don't have to take my word for it. Over 600 
economists--600, not 6 or 10 but 600 economists--including 7 Nobel 
laureates, have signed a letter stating their support for raising the 
minimum wage to $10.10 because it would be good for workers and it 
would not have a negative effect on jobs and would even provide a boost 
to economic activity.
  I am not going to read the whole January letter from the 600 
economists, but I will read a statement from it and then I will 
conclude.

       At a time when persistent high unemployment is putting 
     enormous downward pressure on wages, such a minimum-wage 
     increase would provide a much-needed boost to the earnings of 
     low-wage workers.
       In recent years there have been important developments in 
     the academic literature on the effect of increases in the 
     minimum wage on unemployment, with the weight of evidence now 
     showing that increases in the minimum wage have had little or 
     no--

  Let me say it again, ``little or no''--

     negative effect on the unemployment of minimum-wage workers, 
     even during times of weakness in the labor market. Research 
     suggests that a minimum-wage increase could have a small 
     stimulative effect on the economy as low-wage workers spend 
     their additional earnings, raising demand and job growth, and 
     providing some help on the jobs front.

  That is a long statement by 600 economists. It is very measured. It 
is not inflating numbers and saying this is going to cure all of our 
economic challenges or all of our economic woes, but it is a clear and 
unequivocal endorsement of raising the minimum wage. I would add to 
that, with all due respect to those smart economists, the data on this 
chart.
  Let me make one more point and then I will conclude. I don't have it 
in front of me, but one of the organizations that has endorsed the 
increase in the minimum wage is the American Academy of Pediatrics. 
Why? Because they know a lot about taking care of kids. They know a lot 
about providing the best health care for kids. They know a lot about 
the traumas and the difficulties that a lot of children face, 
especially if they are poor or if they are in a family getting low 
wages. That child is impacted. There is no doubt about that. All the 
science tells us that. All the literature tells us that. But if the 
American Academy of Pediatrics is saying we should raise the minimum 
wage because it is good for kids and these 600 economists are saying it 
is good for the economy and so much other information is saying it will 
help our veterans, 1 million veterans and 14 million kids, what is the 
argument on the other side against it?
  I have heard some of the arguments, but I have not heard an argument 
yet that says they have a strategy on the other side of this debate 
that will help 15.3 million women, that will directly help 14 million 
children and that will help 1 million veterans and boost our economy on 
top of it. I would be for this even if there wasn't a boost to the 
economy because we could help people individually, but that is an added 
reason to be supportive of this bill.
  This is long overdue. We shouldn't be having this debate every 5, 6 
or 8 years. We should raise the minimum wage appropriately, to a 
reasonable number that makes sense, and then index it so we can take 
this issue off the table, so it would increase appropriately, as it 
should, over time.
  If we had done that in the 1960s or 1970s, the minimum wage would be 
not just higher than it is today, $7.25, it would be more than $10.50 
an hour, something higher than that.
  If you are unalterably opposed to raising the minimum wage, I would 
hope you would have a strategy to make sure that 14 million kids are 
benefited by your action, by your bill--not over 20 years but by some 
other legislative vehicle--and you should have a strategy to make sure 
1 million veterans have some measure of economic security they don't 
have, and you should be able to answer what the American Academy of 
Pediatrics said is good for children. If you can answer those kinds of 
questions, then I would love to take a look at your bill, but if you 
can't, you have some explaining to do.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Heitkamp). The Senator from Minnesota.
  Mr. FRANKEN. I thank my colleague for his words on the minimum wage. 
There were very important points raised in terms of that letter from 
those economists and the American Academy of Pediatrics. It adds 
wonderfully to the debate.
  I rise to support, similar to my colleague from Pennsylvania, an 
increase in the Federal minimum wage. I am a proud cosponsor of the 
Minimum Wage Fairness Act, which would give 16.5 million Americans a 
much deserved raise.
  I am incredibly proud of the important step Minnesota took to raise 
the minimum wage earlier this week. Just a few weeks ago or earlier 
this month the Governor and the Minnesota State legislature took this 
big step for workers and families. Because of this, hundreds of 
thousands of hard-working Minnesotans will themselves receive a raise.
  This is a big deal. Before this increase, the Minnesota State minimum 
wage was actually lower than the Federal minimum wage.
  I would like to talk a little bit about why Minnesota has taken this 
important step. Minnesotans believe that if someone works full time, 52 
weeks a year, they should be able to put food on the table and a roof 
over their family's head. They believe that if someone works in 
America, they should have a chance to work their way up into the middle 
class. As I have traveled around Minnesota, I have heard from people 
all over the State who have been working long hours and yet still 
struggle to support their families, to work their way to the middle 
class and provide a brighter future for their children.
  As a State, we recognized that there were too many people working 
very hard at one, two, and sometimes three jobs and were still 
struggling to get by. Parents have been wondering how they are going to 
be able to pay for their kids' college or even how to make the next car 
payment. Instead, they have been working 60-hour weeks and missing out 
on spending precious time with their children.
  That is why I am proud that Minnesota has now joined 21 other States 
with minimum wages higher than the Federal minimum. In Washington, I am 
going to keep doing my part to help Minnesota workers.
  Recent research confirms that what we see in Minnesota is happening 
across America. In a survey last year of workers earning less than $10 
an hour, two-thirds of these workers said they are not meeting or are 
just meeting their basic living expenses. Two-thirds of these workers 
report needing public assistance. Two in five said they can't afford 
additional education and training. With wages too low, these workers 
are trapped. They are trapped in poverty.
  The economy is getting better, but raising the minimum wage is about 
doing everything we can to make sure it gets better for everyone. Last 
year our Nation's largest businesses saw record profits. The market 
finished last year up over 26 percent, its best return since the 1990s. 
Raising the minimum wage is about making sure Minnesotans and workers 
across the country get to be a part of this improving economy.
  That is why Minnesota has taken this important step. We know a strong 
minimum wage and a strong middle class go hand in hand. That is why I 
support raising the Federal minimum wage to a level that allows people 
to work their way to a better life.
  For decades the Federal minimum wage has lost its value. If the 
Federal

[[Page S2534]]

minimum wage had kept pace with inflation since its peak value in the 
1960s, today it would be worth over $10.50 an hour. Today the Federal 
minimum wage is just $7.25 an hour.
  When families have had to pay more for food, rent, utilities, 
childcare, and education, the minimum wage not only hasn't kept up, it 
has gone down. It is not only minimum wage workers who haven't seen an 
increase in wages. Since the 1970s we have seen worker productivity 
grow by 135 percent while the average wages for middle-class workers 
have not changed. Americans are working harder than ever but average 
wages are stuck and the minimum wage actually has been declining.
  Let me tell you about what raising the minimum wage would mean to one 
Minnesotan. Her name is Misrak. She is the mother of two and works at 
the airport as a cleaner, where she makes a low wage. Because she 
couldn't make ends meet, she had to take a second job assisting 
passengers in wheelchairs who need help. She has been doing this for 4 
years, and during that time she has received only one raise worth just 
80 cents an hour. She doesn't get vacation days or sick days or time 
off with her children. She wants to help her children finish college, 
and they want to finish college so they can be sure that if they work 
hard, that will be a path out of poverty and into the middle class. For 
Misrak, even though she works over 60 hours per week, she and her 
family are just barely scraping by.
  Bringing the minimum wage back to a level that can support a family 
is the first step in restoring the promise that if someone works hard, 
they can build a better life for themselves and their family. Sometimes 
people ask why raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour as we did in 
Minnesota or $10.10 as we want to do. They say why not leave minimum 
wage workers alone to figure out things for themselves.
  I don't believe raising the minimum wage is going to solve all the 
problems working families face. They need more than a minimum wage. 
They need good jobs, good schools, and good roads to provide a better 
future for themselves and for their children, but I support raising the 
minimum wage to $10.10 an hour because it is a wage that says Americans 
value work. It is a minimum guarantee that anyone who shows up 40 hours 
a week and ready to work should be able to provide food and shelter for 
themselves and their children and should not live in poverty.
  Other people say we don't need to raise the minimum wage because it 
is not working families who earn the minimum wage. Instead they say it 
is mainly teenagers in their first job who earn the minimum wage. In 
fact, the vast majority of workers who would get a raise under this 
bill are working adults, including approximately 350,000 adults in 
Minnesota. One-quarter are parents, including over 85,000 parents in 
our State. Parents who would see a raise from the bill we are 
considering are the parents of 14 million children, an estimated 
150,000 of them in Minnesota. These are kids. The American Academy of 
Pediatrics says do this. We know that kids who have deprivation have 
trauma. There are different kinds of deprivation, and we know it makes 
it harder for them to learn. It changes their brain chemistry to be 
under that much stress, so let's do it for these kids.
  The majority--56 percent--of Minnesotans who would be affected by an 
increase are women. Nationwide, one in five working mothers would see a 
raise under this bill, and 6.8 million workers and their families would 
be lifted out of poverty.
  Raising the minimum wage is good for working families and it is good 
for the economy. It boosts economic activity and helps local 
businesses. A study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago found that 
increasing the Federal minimum wage to $10 an hour could boost GDP by 
up to 0.3 percentage points. In a recent analysis of State employment 
data, Goldman Sachs noted that based on their analysis of States that 
increased their minimum wage at the start of 2014, the employment 
impact, if any, from a higher Federal minimum wage would be small 
relative to the normal volatility in the market. A higher minimum 
wage--
  Madam President, I ask unanimous consent for an additional 2 minutes 
or 1\1/2\ minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. FRANKEN. In that case, 2 minutes.
  A higher minimum wage also helps our economy because increasing the 
minimum wage boosts the purchasing power of consumers and creates more 
customers for local businesses. People earning minimum wage spend the 
money they are earning. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that 
the increased economic activity from an increase to $10.10 could create 
85,000 new jobs and boost GDP by $22.2 billion over the 3 years of 
implementation. Increasing the minimum wage helps businesses in another 
way too. Workers who are better paid are also more productive and less 
likely to quit. That means businesses save on recruiting and training 
costs. It also means they have better, more loyal, and harder working 
employees.
  Businesses in Minnesota understand this. I spoke with Danny 
Schwartzman, the owner of Common Roots Cafe and Catering in 
Minneapolis. Danny pays his employees a minimum of $11 per hour, plus 
benefits, such as paid time off and health insurance. Danny has 
written:

       Over time, other businesses will see what I have seen--that 
     paying people more yields more for the bottom line. It's 
     easier to recruit and retain people. Happier employees are 
     more likely to provide better customer service. Lower 
     turnover means dramatically lower training costs and better 
     employee performance.

  Danny understands that his business will do better if his workers are 
doing better.
  It is time that Congress follow Minnesota's example. The minimum wage 
is about making sure that work pays. It is about the American dream. If 
you work hard and take responsibility, you can put a roof over your 
head, provide a decent life for your children, and help them get ready 
for the future. It has been too long since the Federal minimum wage 
kept that promise to America's workers and their children, and that is 
why we need to raise it today.
  I thank the Chair, and I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. MARKEY. Madam President, I am proud to stand here today to 
support raising the minimum wage. No person in America should work full 
time and not earn enough to be above the poverty level. The poverty 
level in the United States in 2014 is about $23,000 for a family of 
four. Today, if someone works under the minimum wage for 40 hours a 
week they are still in poverty. No one should work 40 hours a week and 
be given a salary that does not lift them and their families out of 
poverty. That is absolutely wrong.
  Millions of people in our country have been trying to climb into the 
middle class. But no matter how hard they work, they are stuck in the 
same place.
  In America today, nearly half of those who grow up in families in the 
bottom fifth of income earners will stay there as adults. Tens of 
millions of Americans labor tirelessly for years to scale the economic 
ladder but they can never get off the ground. That is unacceptable, it 
is immoral, and that needs to change.
  Raising the minimum wage is a first step to fighting income 
inequality in our country. We must help restore the dignity and the 
value of work and help millions of families escape poverty by 
increasing the national minimum wage.
  Today, more than 46 million Americans are living in poverty. The 
average American household made less in 2012 than it did in 1989. That 
is wrong. It is plain wrong. Over these last 20 years, the top 1 
percent of wage earners in America has seen their income skyrocket by 
86 percent. In the years ahead it is going to get worse for those 
making the minimum wage. Over the next 5 years the real value of the 
minimum wage is projected to decline by 10 percent or over $1,400 of 
purchasing power for a full-time worker, unless we increase the minimum 
wage.
  What does that mean? It means Americans will be able to buy less if 
we don't do it, and it will be harder for families to get by. The poor 
will effectively get even more impoverished. Even as they are working 
40 hours a week, they get poorer and poorer and poorer because that 
minimum wage does not buy as much as it did the year

[[Page S2535]]

before and the year before and the year before. So the rich get richer 
and the poor get poorer. That is the system we have right now unless we 
take action to make sure those who earn the minimum wage are keeping 
pace with what it takes to buy the food, to pay the rent, to pay for 
the schools for the children in their family. If we don't do this, they 
get poorer and poorer while continuing to work 40 hours a week.
  We know low-income Americans would benefit from raising the minimum 
wage, but they are not the only ones. Hundreds of small businesses in 
my home State of Massachusetts have signed on to a petition for a fair 
minimum wage of $10.50 per hour. That petition says that raising the 
minimum wage makes good business sense. That same small business 
petition says workers are also customers.
  They are right. Increasing the purchasing power of minimum-wage 
workers helps stimulate the economy. Research has shown time and time 
again that minimum-wage workers spend the additional income they 
receive when the minimum wage is increased. If we increase the minimum 
wage to $10.10 per hour, 28 million workers would receive about $35 
billion in additional wages.
  Raising the minimum wage does not cause job losses, even during 
periods of recession. Most minimum-wage workers need the income to make 
ends meet and spend it quickly. It goes right into the economy. So 
economists believe it will actually boost the economy by creating about 
85,000 new jobs and increasing economic activity by about $22 billion. 
That means everyone in our economy should be on board.
  Raising the minimum wage is about giving families security, 
opportunity, and dignity--the security to know they can make ends meet, 
the opportunity to climb out of poverty and into the middle class, and 
the dignity to know they are getting paid a fair wage for a hard day's 
work. That is why I am proud to stand here today to urge my colleagues 
to increase the minimum wage so that we give America the raise it needs 
for those who are working so hard for our economy.
  I yield the floor.

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