[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 112 (Wednesday, June 17, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3053-S3054]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Racism

  But let us be clear. Police violence is not the only manifestation of 
the systemic racism that is taking place in America today. Just take a 
look at what is going on with the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent months, 
we have seen Black and Brown communities disproportionately ravaged by 
this virus. We have seen workers, who earn starvation wages, forced to 
go to work day in and day out in unhealthy workplace environments 
because, without that paycheck, they and their families would go 
hungry. These working class families have, with enormous courage, kept 
our economy and society together in hospitals, in meat-packing plants, 
in

[[Page S3054]]

public transportation, in supermarkets, gas stations, and elsewhere.
  These workers--again, disproportionately Black and Brown--have risked 
infection and death so that the rest of us can continue to get the food 
that we need, get our medicines, or put gasoline in our car. In the 
wealthiest country in the history of the world, workers should not have 
to choose between going hungry on one hand or getting ill or dying on 
the other.
  When we talk about starvation wages in this country, I was happy to 
hear today that Target has raised its minimum wage for its many, many 
thousands of workers to $15 an hour. That is something that I and many 
others here have long advocated for. This follows a decision 2 years 
ago by Amazon to raise the minimum wage for their workers to $15 an 
hour and the effort in seven States across this country to raise their 
minimum wage to $15 an hour.
  Now is the time for Walmart--the largest employer in America, owned 
by the wealthiest family in America--to also raise their minimum wage 
to $15 an hour. I should add that the Walton family, the family that 
owns Walmart, can more than afford to do this because, since Donald 
Trump has been President, their wealth has increased by about $75 
billion. Let me repeat. Their wealth has increased by about $75 billion 
in the last 3-plus years, and they are now worth some $200 billion as a 
family. You know what? I think the Walton family can afford to pay 
their workers $15 an hour.
  By the way, when we talk about racial justice, please understand that 
about half of Black workers in this country earn less than $15 an hour.
  Further, the House has done the right thing by passing legislation to 
raise the Federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. The time is long overdue 
for the Senate to do the same.