[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 20399-20400]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              MINIMUM WAGE

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the minimum 
wage increase, which takes effect today.
  Today, millions of hard-working Americans will finally receive the 
first increase of a $2.10 raise in the Federal minimum wage. Today, we 
are putting an end to a decade-long stagnant wage that has kept those 
who are working their hardest at the bottom of the ladder. Today, they 
are getting the chance that everyone in this country deserves--the 
opportunity to build a better life.
  Now, $2.10 may not sound like much to most Americans. But that small 
increase will make a difference in the pockets and in the lives of 
millions of Americans. Those $2.10 add up to more than $4,400 more 
every year enough to help a low-income family depending on a minimum 
wage income to afford 2 years of child care, a year and a half in 
utility bills, or a year of tuition at a public college.
  I am also proud that my State of New Jersey has not waited for 
Congress to do what is right. Instead, New Jersey has taken it upon 
itself to increase the State minimum wage far in advance of Congress, 
which now is at $7.15 per hour. New Jersey's minimum wage has given 
more than a quarter million workers the opportunity to build a better 
life for themselves and their families.
  And today, all Americans earning minimum wage will have that same 
opportunity to build a better life. In enacting the first minimum wage 
increase in over a decade, Congress took a critical first step towards 
correcting a grave injustice. For far too long, we have let some of our 
hardest working employees--those who prepare our food, clean our 
offices, treat us at the doctor, and guard our buildings at night--see 
their wages erode by 10 years of inflation.
  Ten years is far too long for those who work round the clock, hoping 
to save a little extra for groceries, for those working so they can buy 
school supplies or clothes for their children, or for those saving so 
one day they can live in a place they are proud to call home.
  Today, we should also commit that never again will we let this 
injustice persist for 10 years. The increase going into effect today is 
an important improvement, but it is not the end of the battle. An 
increase in the minimum wage is only part of the solution.
  We cannot ignore that the income gap has been widening--and now it 
has taken on a new twist. We no longer have inequality just between 
those living comfortably and those struggling to make ends meet. Income 
is now more concentrated at the top than it has been in the past 70 
years. In fact, as the wealthiest 1 percent have seen their income grow 
by 20 percent or more within the past few years, everyone else has seen 
their income grow by less than 4 percent.
  And that inequality is ever too real for women and minorities, who 
are more likely to be minimum wage earners.
  So while increasing the minimum wage is just one step toward closing 
the income gap, it is an important step.
  Ultimately, a wage increase is about fairness, about ensuring all 
Americans, not just those at the top, can share in the American dream.
  Before today, 13 million minimum wage workers did not have the chance 
to share in that dream.
  Before today, 4 million Latinos and African Americans earned less 
than $7.25 an hour with no expectation that their wages would rise.
  Before today, nearly 7 million women, who make up well over half of 
minimum wage workers, would not have seen their wages increase.
  And before today, a minimum wage earner with a family of three would 
be making $6,000 below the poverty level. Before today, that family 
would not have a way out of poverty and into prosperity.
  We have changed the course, not just for minimum wage workers but for 
our country. We have finally taken steps toward providing greater 
equality and given our hardest workers and their families the chance to 
earn a wage of dignity and respect.
  A wage increase is only a downpayment on our promise to all 
Americans--it is a preview of what is to

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come. Democrats pledge to continue to change the course to ensure all 
Americans and their families have a fair shot at achieving the American 
dream.
  Thank you. I yield the floor

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