[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 22817]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      INCREASING THE MINIMUM WAGE

  (Mr. STUPAK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, 7.5 million Americans would benefit from an 
increase in the minimum wage. That is 7.5 million people who are 
currently struggling to make ends meet in an economy where job growth 
is slow, pay is falling, and prices are rising.
  The minimum wage is currently at a historically low level in terms of 
purchasing power and at a striking 50-year low when adjusted for 
inflation. Hardworking families are currently struggling because this 
Republican Congress has refused to raise the minimum wage for the past 
9 years.
  Democrats believe that these millions of hardworking Americans 
deserve a pay raise to help them make ends meet in this tough economy. 
We believe that no one who works full-time in this country should have 
to live in poverty. They deserve a shot at the American Dream, a chance 
to give their family the opportunity to move ahead.
  Mr. Speaker, within the first 100 hours of the new Democratic 
Congress, we are going to give these hardworking Americans a much-
needed pay raise. It is time this Congress started expanding economic 
prosperity to those who have been left out. I ask my Republican 
colleagues to join the Democratic Congress in raising the minimum wage 
in January.

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