    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [February 13, 1995]
    [Pages 198-199]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Message to the Congress Transmitting Proposed Legislation To Increase
    the Minimum Wage
    February 13, 1995

    To the Congress of the United States:
        I am pleased to transmit for your immediate consideration and
    enactment the ``Working Wage Increase Act of 1995.''
        This draft bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to increase
    the minimum wage in two 45 cents steps--from the current rate of $4.25
    an hour to $4.70 an hour on July 4, 1995, and to $5.15 an hour after
    July 3, 1996. The pattern of the proposed increase is identical to that
    of the last increase, which passed the Congress with a broad bipartisan
    majority and was signed by President Bush in 1989. The first increment
    of the proposal simply restores the minimum wage to its real value
    following the change enacted in 1989.
        If the Congress does not act now, the minimum wage will fall to its
    lowest real level in 40 years. That would dishonor one of the great
    promises of American life--that everyone who works hard can earn a
    living wage. More than 11 million workers would benefit under this
    proposal, and a full-time, year-round worker at the minimum wage would
    get a $1,800 raise--the equivalent of 7 months of groceries for the
    average family.
        To reform the Nation's welfare system, we should make work pay, and
    this legislation would help achieve that result. It would offer a raise
    to families that are working hard, but struggling to make ends meet.
    Most individuals earning the minimum wage are adults, and the average
    worker affected by this proposal brings home half of the family's
    earnings. Numerous empirical studies indicate that an increase in the
    minimum wage of the magnitude proposed would not have a significant
    impact on employment. The legislation would ensure that those who work
    hard and play by the rules can live with the dignity they have earned.
        I urge the Congress to take prompt and favorable action on this
    legislation.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    February 13, 1995.

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