Raise the Wage Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. RICE of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, the Democrats' assault on rural America continues.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that if this minimum wage law were enacted, up to 3.7 million jobs in America would vanish. And what areas would lose the most? Obviously, the areas with the most minimum wage jobs, rural areas.

You see, these areas have a much lower cost of living. You can rent an apartment for $500 per month, instead of $3,000 per month in San Francisco, where Nancy Pelosi is from. Food costs are lower, taxes are lower, utilities are lower, and an American family can have a comfortable living on half what it takes in San Francisco, Seattle, or New York.

One size does not fit all. A $15 minimum wage would cost these poor rural counties thousands of jobs. Even blue State Oregon recognized this fact when it adopted a tiered minimum wage with one rate for urban areas, another for suburban, and another for rural.

I represent three poor South Carolina counties, Marion, Dillon, and Marlboro. These are majority African American and suffered stagnation over a lost decade following the financial crisis and the stifling government overreach of the Obama administration.

After tax reform and regulatory reform, these poor counties are finally recovering. Two years ago, when Donald Trump took office, the unemployment rate in Marion County was 9.6 percent. Today it is 4.6 percent. What a turnaround.

And yet, even in the face of this, Democrats haven't learned their lesson and want to return to the days of big government, big regulation overreach that will hurt these poor rural counties the worst.

Everyone is concerned about income inequality. Here is a suggestion, to stop complaining and actually do something about it. Let's work together to fix our broken immigration system.

Hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens cross our southern border every year. This limitless supply of cheap labor steals from our children and holds down wages for the hardworking, law-abiding Americans. The most affected are the most vulnerable at the bottom of the income ladder, and particularly those in rural areas.

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