[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2558-2559]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              MINIMUM WAGE

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, at long last, I believe we are on the 
verge of passing legislation that is long overdue. Soon we are going to 
vote on a procedural motion, known as a cloture motion, for the Fair 
Minimum Wage Act, which takes us one step closer to raising the minimum 
wage to $7.25 per hour over the next 2 years.
  It has been 10 years since Congress has raised the minimum wage for 
the lowest paid workers in America. Since we last raised the minimum 
wage, its value has eroded because of inflation, the rising cost of 
living. Unlike our congressional pay raises, it has not kept pace with 
the actual cost of living in America.
  The Democrats have been trying for almost 10 years to convince the 
majority party, then Republicans, that there are millions of Americans 
who go to work every single day and still can't make enough money to 
provide decent daycare for their kids, pay their medical and utility 
bills, and provide food and other essentials that are part of every 
family's life.
  Many of those people working for a minimum wage in Illinois make 
about $6.50 an hour because we raised it on a State basis in my home 
State. Yet they understand the need to raise the minimum wage. One 
woman wrote to me and said:

       I can't support my daughter on the wages I have, and I have 
     to rely on my family. I won't get a significant increase in 
     my wages until you bump up the wages. I make about $14,000 a 
     year. I'm sure that's nothing to you but I have to live off 
     that.

  This woman, by the way, is a college graduate trying to raise her 
child, trying to do the right thing.
  What help has she received from this Congress over the last 10 years? 
Almost none. Keep in mind, she lives in a State where our minimum wage 
is higher than $5.15. I can't imagine, in the 21 States that are stuck 
at $5.15 an hour, how these folks get along.
  I heard a lot of my colleagues stand up on the floor and make good 
speeches about family values. Let's all agree on one thing: The most 
important family value is helping a parent raise a child and provide 
the necessities of life, and $5.15 an hour will not do that.
  So 6 million Americans are watching this debate. Those are the people 
living on the minimum wage. I urge my colleagues to keep them in mind 
when we get a chance to vote this afternoon.


                              the economy

  Mr. President, I am honored that the President of the United States 
is in my home State of Illinois today. He is visiting Peoria, a great 
city. It has a great major company, Caterpillar, which has had terrific 
success. Caterpillar has shown increases in revenues

[[Page 2559]]

and profits. It is a great corporate citizen and neighbor in the Peoria 
area. We are proud it is doing well.
  But I would like to talk for a minute about areas in Illinois that 
the President will not be visiting. He will not be visiting Herod, IL, 
which lost 1,000 jobs recently when its Maytag manufacturing plant 
closed; or DuQuoin, IL, where 356 manufacturing jobs were lost at 
Archway; and then Mount Vernon, where Joy Manufacturing lost 175 
manufacturing jobs; and Pinckneyville, where Technicolor Media Services 
will be closing its plant on March 31, causing 444 people to lose their 
jobs. I could go on.
  Today President Bush comes to Peoria to talk about the state of the 
America's economy. The reality of America's economy is that on his 
watch, we have lost 3 million manufacturing jobs. Some have been 
replaced with jobs in convenience stores, but we all know the harsh 
reality. A person working for a minimum wage in a convenience store is 
not going to be able to take care of their family similar to someone 
working in a manufacturing job.
  We have to understand that America can do better. How can we do 
better? First, acknowledge that trade is part of our future; 
globalization is as real as gravity. But make sure the trade agreements 
we enter into are trade agreements that are sensible--sensible in terms 
of labor standards, environmental standards, and enforceable.
  The one thing that troubles me the most is this Bush administration 
has refused to enforce the trade agreements on the books. We all know 
what is going on in China--currency manipulation, dumping, unfair 
subsidies. Under the Bush administration, in 6 years, they have only 
filed two complaints against China for unfair trade practices.
  As we lose good-paying jobs in America to China and other countries, 
we need to stand up and enforce the trade agreements that this 
administration and others have entered. The Bush administration needs 
to stand up for working families and fight off unfair trade practices 
that steal good jobs from America.
  We also have to understand another harsh reality. Most Americans 
today, when asked, don't believe their children will have as good a 
life as they have had. That is such a sad commentary in America. It 
reflects the fact that 47 million Americans have no health insurance. 
It reflects the fact that fewer and fewer Americans have a retirement 
plan on which they can count, and it shows us that the wages that are 
being paid to working families, middle-income families in America, are 
not keeping up with the cost of housing, the cost of utility bills, the 
cost of gasoline for their cars, and the cost of putting their children 
through college.
  If you want to know the real state of the economy, don't sit down and 
talk to the economists. Talk to the real working families in Illinois 
and across America who are struggling each day to make ends meet, going 
deeper in debt on their credit card bills and wondering if their kids 
will have as good a chance in the America to come.
  That is the reality of our economy. Oh, the stock market may be 
strong. The heads of major corporations may be making tens of millions, 
hundreds of millions of dollars. The Tax Code may be crafted by this 
administration to favor those who are doing so well. But the reality on 
Main Street in America is that people are struggling. We are losing 
manufacturing jobs. We are not enforcing our trade agreements, and we 
are not giving the kind of hope which they need to working families 
across America.
  This Congress is going to start to turn that around. It will take 
some time. First, we are going to raise the Federal minimum wage. Then 
we are going to address the needs of the families who have kids in 
college, reduce the cost of those college student loans so kids don't 
end up with a mountain of debt when they finally graduate; find a way 
to make health care more affordable and bring down the cost of the 
prescription part of Medicare, Part D, so the seniors are not stuck 
with the highest drug bills in America.
  That I hope is the real state of the economy. I hope the President 
will today acknowledge that reality.


                                  Iraq

  One last point I would like to make--the major issue on the minds of 
most Americans is the situation in Iraq. The President now wants to 
send 21,000 more troops to Iraq. Many of us feel this is a serious 
mistake; this is a strategy which has not been thought out.
  This morning's Washington Post tells a story which is ominous. It is 
entitled ``Equipment for Added Troops is Lacking.'' It goes on to say:

       New Iraq forces must make do, officials say.

  And here is the grim reality. The 21,000 soldiers this President 
wants to send into Iraq to join the 144,000 there will go without the 
equipment and protection they need and deserve. This report, which 
comes from the Pentagon, tells us that whether we are talking about 
vehicles, armor kits or basic equipment, our troops will not have what 
they need. In fact, the statement in here is from LTG Stephen Speakes 
and suggests:

       We don't have the [armor] kits, and we don't have the 
     trucks. . . . He said it will take the Army months, probably 
     until summer, to supply and outfit the additional trucks. As 
     a result, he said, combat units flowing into Iraq would have 
     to share the trucks assigned to units now there, leading to 
     increased use and maintenance.

  I have to ask, before we put any more soldiers in harm's way, don't 
we owe them the very best equipment they need so they can fight and 
come home safely? Don't we owe that to them and their families?
  Some argue that when we come to the floor and take exception to the 
policies of this administration, it undermines the morale of the 
troops. I couldn't disagree more. What undermines the morale of the 
Nation's soldiers is the notion that they have to go into combat with 
less than the best equipment, that they have to go into combat without 
the armor plate they need to come home safe and sound. That undermines 
morale a lot more than any debate on the floor of the Senate, and it is 
time for the White House and the Bush administration to answer honestly 
how can we escalate this war in Iraq if we don't at least improve the 
equipment for the troops who are going into battle? That is the reality 
of what our soldiers face today and have faced throughout this war in 
Iraq, and that is why we definitely need a new direction.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Massachusetts is 
recognized.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, we are in morning business at this time?
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator is correct. We are in 
morning business.

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