[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 9 (Thursday, January 13, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H181]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              MINIMUM WAGE

  (Mr. CARTER of Louisiana asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CARTER of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, 20 States, including 
Louisiana, still have the same hourly pay floor as the Federal minimum 
wage: $7.25.
  Louisiana also has the second highest poverty rate of any State. That 
is because minimum wage is a poverty wage--a full-time salary is less 
than $16,000 a year. No one can survive on that, much less raise a 
family on that wage.
  While the Federal minimum wage has not increased since 2009, the 
costs of housing, medicine, food, and childcare have all exponentially 
increased. We cannot simply subject millions of our constituents to 
endure the trials of poverty. It is not a mystery. We can, we must, and 
we know how to help. It is time to finally increase the Federal minimum 
wage and lower the costs with the Build Back Better Act.

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