[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 13 (Monday, April 1, 1996)]
[Pages 585-586]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Congressional Inaction on Minimum Wage Legislation

March 28, 1996

    I am disappointed that the Republican leadership has again prevented 
the Congress from even voting on whether to raise the minimum wage and 
give 10 million Ameri- 

[[Page 586]]

cans an immediate pay increase. With every day that the Republican 
leadership continues to stall, the value of the minimum wage continues 
to fall closer and closer to a 40-year low. Some of America's greatest 
working heroes are the parents who are trying to raise their kids, 
working full time at the minimum wage. If we value work and we value 
families, we ought to raise the value of the minimum wage. With the 5-
year anniversary of the last minimum wage increase next Monday, now is 
the time to put politics aside, raise the minimum wage, and help lift 
the lives of millions of America's workers.