[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.

[[Page 199]]