Jun 29, 2006- CALLING FOR INCREASE IN MINIMUM WAGE

HON. MARCY KAPTUR
 OF OHIO
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2006

Mr. Speaker, people who work full time should not live in poverty. Yet America'sminimum wage has been set at $5.15 for the last decade, while the costs ofhousing, health care, education and gasoline have skyrocketed. This stagnantwage represents a decline in purchasing power for the working class, so greatthat it is at its lowest value in a half a century when adjusted for inflation.

The Democrats have a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 over thenext 2 years. The Republican leadership of this Chamber, however, saw fit toblock this legislation from reaching the House floor for a vote. Ironically,that Republican majority then voted to raise their own pay.

Last week, I voted once again to block the automatic pay raises forCongress, called cost-of-living adjustments. Don't those at the low end of thepay scale deserve more than those at the very top? Don't they deserve moreattention? My office has been flooded with letters and emails urging theincrease in the minimum wage. Some of my constituents write because they arestruggling to pay their bills with minimum-wage salaries. Others are earningmore than the minimum wage, but promote the increase, anyway, as they realizethis is also a moral issue. Yes, people who work should not live in poverty.

One of my constituents wrote me a series of questions that I believe myRepublican colleagues who are opposed to increasing the minimum wage couldbenefit from hearing. One constituent asked: ``How do you distinguish betweenthe working poor and their need for a raise and Congress' need for a raise?''

Another: ``Do you ever decide not to go to an event because you have to makeyour auto's gas last until the end of the week?''

Or: ``When your child is sick, do you look at your budget to see where the$20 copay for the prescription is going to come from?''

Or: ``When I get an extra $50, I put it towards my running bill at the VAfor my prescriptions. Basic needs. What are Members of Congress going to dowith their raise?''

The American people are asking.

Frankly, they should turn them down and let them be given to those who needthe help. Unfortunately, millions of Americans are faced with vital decisionsdaily, things too many Members of Congress take for granted. These Americansare among the working poor with full-time jobs earning $5.15 an hour. Millionsfall into this boat, even more when you consider that the poverty line has notbeen adequately adjusted to reflect the true level of poverty in this country.

My Republican colleagues who are against the minimum wage cannot identifywith that struggle. Opponents argue the market should dictate wages. Well, Mr.Speaker, we know the market works very imperfectly. They favor those withcapital and those who inherit it, even with no work of their own. A marketwhere chief executive officers make 262 times that of the average worker and821 times that of the minimum-wage worker is not a market that is working well.And it is surely not working well enough to build a solid middle class.

This same erroneous argument of letting the market dictate has been used totout the value of flawed trade agreements like CAFTA and NAFTA. These lopsidedagreements have been structured in a way to favor capital over workers acrossborders, outsourcing more of our jobs and putting a crushing downward squeezeon the middle class and on keeping the minimum wage at rock bottom.

   Trade agreements that do not have protections for workersare fueling the influx of immigrants into our country. These workers do notnecessarily prefer Americato their home country. It is just that these poor trade agreements have reallywiped out their livelihoods, and they are fleeing to the United States. Theseworkers are willing, due to dire circumstances, to work for sub-minimum wageswhich in turn depresses all wages in on our country.

People who go to work every day and perform the services essential tokeeping our economy functioning deserve to live above the poverty level. America is therichest nation in the world. It should be able to pay a living wage and build amiddle class for those who hold the least in society. We need to reward workitself, or it will lose its value. The definition of opportunity in thiscountry will lose its value. We should follow our conscience and raise theminimum wage.

I ask those who are listening in this Chamber and elsewhere to write theirMember of Congress and urge an increase in the minimum wage in our country from$5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour over the next 2 years. It is the right thing todo.