[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 116 (Thursday, July 11, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H5592]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    LET'S NOT RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Rutherford) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RUTHERFORD. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle announced they will soon bring to the floor the Raise the Wage 
Act, a bill to increase the Federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to 
$15 an hour.
  While supporters of this legislation have good intentions, the 
repercussions would spell disaster for our economy, for small 
businesses, and the very same low-wage workers who they intend to help. 
Nonpartisan estimates of the Raise the Wage Act expect it could cause 
up to 3.7 million people across the country to lose their jobs.
  Mr. Speaker, that is almost as many people as in the entire State of 
Oklahoma, the entire State of Oklahoma unemployed.
  Cities that have already imposed a $15 minimum wage have been the 
first to see the negative effects of this initiative. Recently, the 
University of Washington conducted a study on the efficacy of Seattle's 
newly mandated $15 minimum wage, and the results were very clear. Costs 
to low-wage workers in Seattle outweighed the benefits by 3-to-1, and 
the average low-wage worker lost $125 a month.
  While most of the discussion regarding the Federal minimum wage is 
focused on major metropolitan cities, what about the rural areas across 
the country where the cost of living is much lower? This bill would 
effectively eliminate small, rural businesses and skyrocket costs for 
goods and services.
  Finally, let's look at who is currently making minimum wage in the 
U.S. Half are under the age of 25, and almost a quarter of them are 
teenagers. A $15 minimum wage would threaten the job prospects of young 
folks who are looking to enter the workforce for the first time, hoping 
to gain the skills needed to move ahead in a real career.
  Over 80 percent of economists agree that a $15 minimum wage would 
have a negative impact on youth employment.
  Look, I cannot support a bill that is guaranteed to shutter business 
and lay off workers around the country. I hope that my colleagues on 
the other side of the aisle will reconsider this attempt to backtrack 
on the economic success of recent years and, instead, support 
bipartisan policies that will help all workers get ahead.

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