    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
    [July 9, 1996]
    [Pages 1095-1098]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Senate Action on Minimum Wage Legislation and an Exchange
    With Reporters
    July 9, 1996

        The President. Good afternoon. This was a very good day for
    America's working families. Today's vote by the Senate means that 10
    million hard-working Americans will get a little bit of help to raise
    their children and keep their family strong. A 90-cent increase in the
    minimum wage will honor our most basic values: work and family,
    opportunity and responsibility. It will help working people without
    hurting our economy, and it is plainly the right thing to do.
        Today the minimum wage is not a living wage. You can't raise a
    family on $4.25 an hour. This action by the Senate today restores the
    biparti-

    [[Page 1096]]

    san commitment that the minimum wage will keep pace with the cost of
    living. This action will directly benefit millions of hard-working
    Americans. Sixty percent of minimum wage workers are women. More than a
    third are the sole breadwinners in their household. Over 2 million
    children live in poor or near-poor families where a worker earns the
    minimum wage. And they will now get a raise.
        I'm gratified that a bipartisan majority of the Senators rejected a
    killer amendment that would have stopped this bill. The provision would
    have been a powerful incentive for employers to push employees out of
    their jobs after 6 months. It would have locked millions and millions of
    Americans into lower wages.
        The way has now been cleared for final passage of a minimum wage
    bill. I call on Congress to send me the final bill quickly. The
    differences between the House and Senate versions are not significant,
    and American workers should get their raise as soon as possible. There's
    no reason that minimum wage workers should have to wait any longer for
    their raise. This is not a time to nickel and dime our working families.
    Our economy is sturdy. We have 10 million new jobs; unemployment at 5.3
    percent; nearly 4 million new homeowners; rising real hourly wages for
    the first time in a decade. Now we have to make sure that all Americans
    have the opportunity to benefit from a growing economy.
        This has been a difficult fight. But it turned out to be a real
    victory for the working families of this country. Today's vote by the
    Senate will make it possible for more of our people to be rewarded for
    their hard work, to believe that there is opportunity on the other end
    of their responsibility.
        Again, I thank the Members of the Senate who took this step. I thank
    the Members of the Congress, both parties, who supported it in both
    Houses. I look forward to the speedy resolution of the two bills and to
    signing it into law.
        Let me say one other thing. Today is a special day for me, and since
    the Vice President's here, I wanted to announce that this is our fourth
    anniversary. It was 4 years ago today that I asked and he accepted the--
    I asked him to become Vice President, or at least the nominee for Vice
    President, and he accepted it. It has been 4 years of great adventure.
    It's been a wonderful partnership. And I believe that historians will
    record that he has been the most effective and influential Vice
    President in the history of the country. And I just wanted to have this
    chance to acknowledge 4 great years and to thank him for his remarkable
    service and his steadily improving sense of humor. [Laughter]

    Budget Legislation

        Q. How do you feel about a CR that runs through March, sir?
        The President. A CR to do what?
        Q. [Inaudible]--that runs through March at fiscal--[inaudible].
        The President. Well, I would hope we could get some of the
    appropriations bills passed. My understanding is that there are some
    that we're pretty close to an agreement on. And I would hope that we
    could keep working into September after we have the August recess to see
    what else can be done.
        There's still a lot of things that need to be done. We need to pass
    Kennedy-Kassebaum. We need to pass a good welfare reform bill. And I'm
    still open to any kind of progress we can make on the budget. So I will
    work with the Congress in any way possible. We have to keep the
    Government open, and we have to keep the fundamental functions of the
    country going forward. But I would hope that we wouldn't give up this
    early on the prospect of progress.

    Minimum Wage and Former Senator Dole

        Q. Mr. President, former Senator Dole's press secretary says you're
    playing maximum politics with the minimum wage, yet you were silent for
    the first 2 years of your administration on the increase of the minimum
    wage and that he has supported an increase in the minimum wage. Are you
    playing politics with the minimum wage?
        The President. Does that mean that he's changed his position, and he
    now supports this minimum wage increase?
        Q. He says he supports--as of May 24, 1996, he was in support of the
    minimum wage, according to the Congressional Record and the press
    release that they put out.
        The President. Well, good for him. That's good.
        The Vice President. With or without the poison pill?
        The President. I mean, if he is now in support of this bill, I hope
    he will say so and urge

    [[Page 1097]]

    the leadership in the Senate and the House of his party to send me the
    bill right away. And I think the American people should say that we're
    glad he supports the bill. If in fact he changed his position in May to
    support it, I think it's good.
        Let me say, I never opposed--the implication that I, like Senator
    Dole and the Republican leadership, opposed the minimum wage increase in
    the first 2 years is simply false. Let's remember, though, we did first
    things first. The first thing we did was to double the earned-income tax
    credit, so that we could say over a period of years we were going to
    take all working families who work 40 hours a week who had children in
    the home out of poverty. That was a very important thing to do on its
    own merits. And that took a lot of doing. That took virtually all of
    1993. It was an important part of our economic plan, and it was opposed
    by all the Members of the other party in the Congress. So we focused on
    the earned-income tax credit in the first 2 years.
        The change of parties in the '94 election had nothing whatever to do
    with raising the minimum wage. When I ran in 1992, I said I thought we
    ought to take action to keep the minimum wage up with inflation. And it
    hadn't been raised in 5 years; it needs to be raised.

    1996 Election

        Q. Mr. President, on this anniversary it seems only fair to ask you
    when you plan to officially announce what has clearly been your
    intention all along here, to seek reelection?
        The President. I don't know. [Laughter] I don't know. We haven't
    made a decision about an official announcement. I can tell you this,
    that I'm going to try to keep my team together. I hope that we'll--I'm
    hoping for an eighth anniversary. How's that?

    Small Business and the Minimum Wage

        Q. Mr. President, what do you say to small-business owners who say
    they'll have to lay off workers if the minimum wage is increased?
        The President. I would say two things. First of all--first, in 1993,
    when we made 90 percent of the small businesses in this country eligible
    for a tax cut by increasing the expensing provisions by 70 percent, and
    again in this minimum wage bill, there are tax relief provisions for
    small businesses, a number of them which will actually put more money
    into the hands of small businesses. So that this--even the most hard-
    pressed small businesses should not be adversely affected by this.
        Secondly, there have been study after study after study showing--the
    vast majority of the studies show that a moderate increase in the
    minimum wage, especially in a strong economy, does not increase the
    unemployment rate. We have produced over 10 million new jobs as a
    country in the last 3\1/2\ years. But the people who are still out there
    working for $4.25 an hour can't live on it. And it is simply a myth to
    say that most people on the minimum wage are middle class kids living at
    home with their parents.
        I was in Chicago the other day, and some of you probably were with
    me at that Taste of Chicago event. And I went to one of the food booths,
    and there was a woman there who said, ``I really appreciate you trying
    to raise the minimum wage. I'm a single mother with two children working
    full time on the minimum wage and going to school at night. And it's
    just not true that we're all living in comfortable circumstances. Most
    people are having a tough time like me.''
        And that's what I think the answer is. This country has been well-
    served over a long period of time by having a minimum wage that
    guaranteed a decent level of subsistence. And remember this, these are
    people that virtually have to spend everything they make. And when they
    earn more money, they will turn right around and spend it with small
    businesses all across the country. They'll spend it at those eating
    establishments. They'll spend it at the dry cleaners and the places that
    do laundry. They'll spend it on supporting their children. And
    therefore, they will be lifting the American economy up, and they'll be
    helping a lot of small businesses, too.
        The Vice President. Could I say something? Could I add a word
    since--in view of the occasion I feel it's okay to interject one word
    here. I remember when we started this fight. I believe it was the Jim
    Lehrer show went and asked the question you just asked----
        The President. I remember that.
        The Vice President. ----to employees who are making the minimum
    wage. And you know, they're the ones who really ought to give the
    answer. And I remember vividly one woman in southern Virginia who was
    making the minimum wage, was asked by the reporter, what

    [[Page 1098]]

    about this argument that if they increase your minimum wage X amount,
    your employer might reduce the number of jobs in your workplace. She
    thought just for a minute and looked at him straight in the eye and she
    said, ``I'll take my chances.''
        And that's the way people who were making the minimum wage feel
    about this question. And the studies indicate that they're right,
    especially in today's economy.

    Helms-Burton Legislation

        Q. Mr. President, do you plan to enact the Helms-Burton legislation
    that would allow lawsuits to move forward?
        The President. Would you say that again, please?
        Q. Do you plan to implement title III of the Helms-Burton
    legislation which is due on July 16th to allow those lawsuits to move
    forward?
        The President. I'm sorry, I have not made a determination on that.
    That has not come to me for a determination yet, so I can't comment.
        Let me--before I leave, I also want to say a special word of thanks
    to my longtime friend Secretary Reich, who has carried on this fight for
    the minimum wage and for a minimum wage that would not be crippled by
    exempting millions and millions of workers from its impact. And so this
    was an especially sweet day for him as well, and I thank him for his
    efforts. And I thank you again, all of you, for being here. This is a
    great day for our working families.
        Thank you.

    Assault Weapons Ban

        Q. Mr. President, what's your response to Dole's statement on
    assault weapons?
        The President. Let me say, I'm not entirely sure what he meant when
    he said what he said. My position is clear. I fought for and passed the
    Brady bill, the assault weapons ban, the 100,000 police. If he now
    believes that we were right on that, then I applaud that. But it's not
    clear to me that that's what he said. So I can't comment on what he said
    because I'm not sure what he said.
        Thanks.

    Note: The President spoke at 5:10 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House.