[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 19765]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             FAMILIES FACE RISING COSTS WITH FALLING WAGES

  (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, at the end of last week Forbes Magazine 
released their annual list of the 400 richest Americans. For the first 
time ever, this list was comprised entirely of billionaires. Not one 
millionaire made the list. 400 billionaires.
  These are the types of people who benefited from the massive tax cuts 
pushed by President Bush and his Republican rubber-stamp allies here in 
this Congress.
  The giveaway to the wealthiest Americans stands in stark contrast to 
the plight of millions of working people in my home State of New Jersey 
and throughout the Nation who have actually seen their wages fall by 
over $3,000 over the past 6 years if you take inflation into account.
  How are working Americans supposed to realize the American Dream when 
their wages remain stagnant, when all of their monthly bills are 
steadily rising? Over the past 6 years, the cost of health care has 
risen by 71 percent and the tuition of public colleges has gone up 57 
percent. We must stop this. Let's stop benefiting the billionaires.

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