This Christmas, Congress Should Help the Less Fortunate by Raising Minimum Wage, Says Miller
This Christmas, Congress Should Help the Less Fortunate by Raising Minimum Wage, Says Miller
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
WASHINGTON, DC -- Representative George Miller (D-CA) this morning attended a press conference in front of the Capitol Christmas Tree to speak about the true meaning of Christmas and to urge Congress to raise the national minimum wage before leaving for its holiday recess.
Miller was joined at the press conference by Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the House Democratic Whip; Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA); Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH); Reverend Dr. Robert Edgar, the Secretary of the National Council of Churches; and Heather Boushey, an economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. The Center released a new study (pdf file) showing how a minimum wage increase (from the current $5.15 per hour to a proposed $7.25 per hour) could help poor families afford basic necessities like food, home heating, and transportation.
Miller, the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement today at the press conference:
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Good morning. Thank you for joining us.
When Speaker Hastert lit the Christmas tree behind us last week, he asked that this year we "spend time reflecting on the true reason for the season."
To me, each year this season offers an opportunity to renew our commitment to the values of hope for the future, goodwill toward others, and generosity toward those less fortunate.
Yet Congress, in the remaining days of the 2005 session, is acting with a total disregard for these values. It is preparing to bestow more tax breaks on the rich while further eroding the trust that says that America will take care of all Americans, especially the less fortunate.
And this year, for the eighth year in a row, Congress is set to recess without taking one of the simplest, most time-tested actions it could take to reduce poverty: raise the minimum wage.
The result of this inaction is rapidly worsening inequality. While executive pay grew by 54 percent in 2004, average real wages for American workers actually declined. Yet workers' productivity continues to rise. In other words, the working poor are working harder - and getting poorer.
In 1968, at its peak, the minimum wage was worth $7.58 per hour in today's dollars. It is now worth just $5.15 per hour. If the minimum wage were $7.58 today, it would give $389 in extra income to someone working 160 hours in December.
In 1997, the last time it was raised, the minimum wage was worth $6.06 per hour in today's dollars. If it were $6.06 now, it would give $146 dollars in extra income to someone working 160 hours in December.
Instead, the minimum wage has been allowed to languish at $5.15 per hour. Millions of American families have seen their incomes decline because of Congress' unwillingness to act on their behalf.
As a result, it is more difficult now than it has been at any other time in generations for these families to afford even the basic necessities of life - like decent housing, home heating, nutritious food, or transportation to work, to religious services, or to visit relatives for the holidays.
America can do better. Congress could act tomorrow to give these families some much-needed help by increasing the minimum wage. President Bush has said he would support an increase.
So today we call on Congress to raise the minimum wage before leaving for the year, from $5.15 to $7.25 over the next two years. This is a modest increase, but it's an important step. We should also extend the minimum wage to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory that lacks even basic federal labor protections.
Raising the minimum wage would show that we have reflected on the true meaning of Christmas and we have acted in the true spirit of the season.
Thank you, and Merry Christmas.
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ed31_democrats/rel121405.html