[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 20191-20192]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     EDUCATION AND THE MINIMUM WAGE

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, during the last year I have listened to a 
lot of things Ohioans have said, have told me, as I have traveled from 
Cleveland to Portsmouth, and from Toledo to Cincinnati and from 
Youngstown to Lima and Bryan. I have heard repeatedly, particularly 
middle class and working families talk about lost opportunity, that 
they do not have the same opportunity for wage increases, do not have 
the same opportunity to join a union, do not have the same opportunity 
to send their kids to college.
  Earlier today, we passed legislation--overwhelmingly, bipartisanly--
finally, to raise Pell grants to increase the opportunity for young 
people to go to school. Pell grants had not been increased in years and 
years and years.
  We know for students in Ohio, for example, the cost of a public 
education at a 4-year public school has gone up, in the last 5 years, 
53 percent. The cost of a private education at a 4-year private school 
has gone up 28 percent. Yet the

[[Page 20192]]

average wage in Ohio only went up 3 percent. So we have private 
education going up this much, public education going up this much, and 
wages increasing only slightly. That is why the legislation the Senate 
passed earlier and legislation the House is working on absolutely will 
matter to provide opportunity for middle-class kids.
  At the same time, as I traveled the State, I heard people talk about 
tax policy. It is clear to people in Akron, in Youngstown, it is clear 
to people in Dayton and Middletown, and Hamilton and Gallipolis and 
Galion, OH, that too often the wealthy have paid, as their income goes 
up and up and up, very little in taxes, relatively, while middle-class 
families get more and more of a burden.
  We saw, from 1946 to 1973, in the history of this country, economic 
opportunities for poor families and working families grew. Then, from 
1973 to 2000, we saw it pretty much level out. We have seen those 
families who are working hard, playing by the rules, not even enjoying 
increases at all in their wages. In fact, they have fallen behind in 
too many cases.
  That is why today, in addition to passing the bill providing 
opportunity for students to go to Ohio State or Hiram College or the 
University of Toledo or the University of Steubenville, students in 
Ohio have more opportunity--after this bill becomes law, if we can get 
the President to sign it--than they had yesterday.
  Today is also a cause to celebrate. Today the minimum wage goes into 
effect. It is the first raise in 10 years. For 300,000 working Ohioans, 
13 million workers nationwide, they will see their wages go up today.
  For 10 years, worker productivity has gone up. In this country, more 
productive workers meant higher income workers. But too often we have 
seen a disconnect between productivity and wages. While American 
workers are continually more productive, their wages have not gone up. 
Whether that is a minimum wage worker, whether it is a worker making 
$20 an hour, it is way too common.
  Today, we did something about it for those minimum wage workers. 
Because of workers in this country--minimum wage and higher income 
workers--because of what they did last November, voting for change, 
minimum wage workers have the increase in the pay they deserve and have 
earned.
  It is a good day for American workers. It is especially a good day 
for minimum wage workers. We have lots more work to do.

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