[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 744]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        SUPPORTING MINIMUM WAGE

  (Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to make sure that my 
first public words on this sacred floor address an issue of utmost 
importance to the citizens of this great Nation.
  Today, we will be considering H.R. 2, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 
2007, to give 13 million Americans a pay raise. This is legislation 
which I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of.
  Increasing the minimum wage is necessary. It is a necessary step to 
help 38 million Americans living in poverty. Yet the Congress for 
almost 10 years has failed to assist this population by increasing the 
minimum wage to a decent wage. An increase in the minimum wage would 
help nearly 700,000 Georgia workers.
  As I understand it, Mr. Speaker, the majority leadership of the 109th 
Congress felt it necessary to award themselves a pay raise despite the 
fact that they worked just over 100 days in 2006. Given that more than 
half of Americans will benefit from this wage increase, I am looking 
forward to Americans getting a fair wage today and have this bill pass.
  Given that more than half of Americans who will benefit from this 
wage increase work a full week every week, it is time for this Congress 
to increase the minimum wage and give America's hardest workers a fair 
wage for a fair day's work.

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