[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 23349]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



               MEANING OF MINIMUM WAGE STATE FLEXIBILITY

  (Mr. DeMINT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

  Mr. DeMINT. Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the meaning of minimum 
wage State flexibility.

  State flexibility means admitting that we in Washington do not always 
know what is best. It means trusting our local leaders to govern their 
own citizens and protect their own workers.

  State flexibility means giving our local leaders the freedom to make 
wage policies that are specifically tailored to help those individuals 
find jobs who are still struggling on welfare.

  State flexibility means giving our State officials the tools they 
need to meet their welfare-to-work goals so they can continue to 
receive Federal funds that help them train the most disadvantaged 
citizens in our community.

  State flexibility means creating laws that protect the wages of a 
waiter in Hollywood, California, and also create new employment 
opportunities for a cashier in Union, South Carolina.

  I urge my colleagues to support State flexibility so that we can 
continue to secure the future for all Americans by returning dollars, 
decisions, and freedoms back home.

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