[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11996]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            REPUBLICANS STALL BILL THAT WOULD BOOST SALARIES

  (Mr. FILNER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, workers across this Nation are increasingly 
being asked to do more with less. As prices rise at the gas pump, at 
pharmacies, on college loans, the millions of Americans who work full-
time and make minimum wage are slipping further and further into 
poverty.
  The minimum wage in this country has not been raised since 1997 and 
is now at its lowest level in 50 years, when adjusted for inflation. 
Making only $5.15 an hour, a full-time, minimum wage employee will earn 
only $10,700 annually. This is far from enough to make ends meet, 
especially for the 75 percent or so who are responsible for at least 
half of their family's income. Raising children on a middle-class 
income is hard enough. Imagine trying to do it on less than a third of 
that.
  Mr. Speaker, Democrats believe that the minimum wage should be a 
living wage. No American who works full-time, all year, should live in 
poverty, unable to support their family. Last week at the committee 
level, Democrats were successful in inserting a minimum wage increase 
into an appropriations bill. But now, the Republican leadership says 
they will not permit a vote on the minimum wage. They will not permit a 
vote in this full House.
  It is time for real action to move hardworking Americans out of 
poverty. Seven million Americans deserve a raise today.

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