[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[November 4, 1999]
[Pages 1982-1983]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Letter to Congressional Leaders on Minimum Wage Legislation
November 4, 1999

Dear __________:
    I am writing this letter to encourage you to pass a straightforward 
minimum wage bill that gives working Americans the pay raise they 
deserve. If we value work and family, we should raise the value of the 
minimum wage.
    In 1996, the Congress and I worked together to raise the minimum 
wage by 90 cents over 2 years. Since then, the American economy has 
created nearly 9 million new jobs--with more than 1 million of them in 
the retail sector where many minimum-wage workers are employed. The 
unemployment rate has fallen from the already low rate of 5.2 percent to 
4.2 percent--the lowest in 29 years. We have enjoyed larger real wage 
increases for more consecutive years than at any time in more than two 
decades, while inflation is the lowest it has been in more than three 
decades. The minimum wage increase has contributed to the 39 percent 
decline in the welfare caseload since the last minimum wage increase--
bringing the welfare rolls down to their lowest level in three decades. 
And the minimum wage increase has been a crucial factor in reversing the 
wage stagnation and declines of the previous decade, contributing to 
rising wages for even the lowest income groups. Our recent experience 
clearly demonstrates that what is good for America's working families is 
good for America's economy.
    But as our economy continues to break records, we must do more to 
ensure that all Americans continue to benefit from it. It is time to 
build on the steps we have taken to honor the dignity of work. The 
expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit in 1993 and the increase in 
the minimum wage have ensured that no full-time working parent with two 
children has to raise his or her family in poverty. It is important that 
we take steps to achieve this goal in the future. That is why I have 
proposed to raise the minimum wage by $1 an hour over the next two 
years--from $5.15 to $6.15. This modest increase would simply restore 
the real value of the minimum wage to what it was in 1982. More than 11 
million workers would benefit under this proposal. A full-time, year-
round worker at the minimum wage would get a $2,000 raise--enough for a 
typical family of four to buy groceries for 7 months or pay rent for 5 
months.
    All Americans should share in our historic prosperity. This is why 
Congress should not let politics get in the way of raising the minimum 
wage. If you send me a clean bill that increases

[[Page 1983]]

the minimum wage by $1 over the next two years, I will sign it.
    Unfortunately, some in Congress have proposed a more gradual 
increase in the minimum wage that would cost a full-time, year-round 
worker roughly $1,500 over three years compared with my proposal. They 
have added provisions that would repeal important overtime protections 
for American workers. And they have been playing politics with the 
minimum wage bill, using it as a vehicle for costly and unnecessary tax 
cuts that would threaten our fiscal discipline. As I have stated 
repeatedly, before we consider using projected surpluses to provide for 
a tax cut, we must put forth things first and address the solvency of 
Social Security and Medicare. If Congress sends me a bill that threatens 
our fiscal discipline, I will veto it.
    If paid-for tax cuts are attached to the minimum wage bill, they 
should reflect our priorities and address urgent national needs like 
deteriorating schools and the communities that have been left behind 
during this time of prosperity. In contrast, the bulk of the provisions 
attached to the minimum wage bill in the House are directed away from 
working families. Some of these provisions could even reduce the 
retirement benefits enjoyed by millions of working Americans.
    America's workers show up to work every day and get the job done. 
Congress should do the same this year. I urge Congress to pass a minimum 
wage bill that does not at the same time add poison pills that bypass 
the priorities of working families.
        Sincerely,

                                                      William J. Clinton

Note: Letters were sent to J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House of 
Representatives; Richard A. Gephardt, House minority leader; Trent Lott, 
Senate majority leader; and Thomas A. Daschle, Senate minority leader. 
An original was not available for verification of the content of this 
letter.