[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 64 (Thursday, April 30, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S2572]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. 
        Boxer, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Markey, Mr. Casey, Mr. Murphy, Ms. 
        Stabenow, Mr. Brown, Mr. Peters, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Leahy, Mrs. 
        Shaheen, Mr. Reid, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Wyden, Mr. 
        Booker, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Reed, Mr. Franken, Mrs. 
        Gillibrand, Mr. Cardin, Ms. Cantwell, Ms. Warren, Mr. Udall, 
        Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Kaine, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Whitehouse, and Ms. 
        Klobuchar):
  S. 1150. A bill to provide for increases in the Federal minimum wage; 
to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, Vermont is among only 22 States in the 
Nation with a minimum wage higher than that of the Federal minimum 
wage. The Green Mountain State has long recognized the importance of 
paying workers a fair and livable wage, and it is past time for 
Congress to catch up with the daily struggles of working American 
families.
  That is why today I am proud to join as a cosponsor of Senator 
Murray's Raise the Wage Act, to increase the Federal minimum wage to 
$12 by 2020. The Raise the Wage Act will help more 38 million Americans 
and thousands of Vermonters who yearn for financial security, for the 
sound footing to build their lives, and the lives of their children.
  The Federal minimum wage has not kept up with inflation. In fact, it 
has lost more than 30 percent of its value since 1968. Over that same 
time, productivity has doubled, and low-wage workers today bring more 
experience and education to the workforce. American workers are being 
asked to work more for less. It is past time to adjust this disparity.
  In Vermont, 64,000 workers would see their wages improve if we raised 
the minimum wage to $12. That is roughly $141 million in added income 
for families in Vermont--families who could spend these earnings at the 
store down the street, multiplying the economic impact to resonate 
through our local economies and downtown businesses.
  Today, nearly two-thirds of Americans who earn the minimum wage or 
less are women; the Raise the Wage Act will improve the hard-earned 
wages of more than 21 million American women.
  No one who works hard in a full-time job should live in poverty in 
our land, and raising the minimum wage should not be a question; it is 
commonsense, it is fair, and it is right. It is the right step to take 
to help ensure that workers can earn wages that support their families.
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