[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 39 (Monday, September 28, 1998)]
[Page 1863]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Senate Vote Not To Raise the Minimum Wage

September 22, 1998

    I am disappointed that the Senate today voted not to raise the 
minimum wage. This increase, one dollar over the next 2 years, would 
have raised the wages of 12 million Americans and helped ensure that 
parents who work hard and play by the rules do not have to raise their 
children in poverty.
    The last time we raised the minimum wage, we said it would help 
working families and not cost jobs. We have been proven correct. Since I 
signed that law, wages for all Americans are rising again. Our economy 
is the strongest in a generation, with more than 16.7 million new jobs 
since the beginning of this administration. Inflation is down, and 
unemployment has dropped to its lowest level in 28 years.
    We value working families, and that is why we should raise the value 
of the minimum wage. I will continue the fight in Congress to do just 
that.