Admiral Sestak Renews Call to Curt Weldon to Back up Words with Action on the Minimum Wage
Admiral Sestak Renews Call to Curt Weldon to Back up Words with Action on the Minimum Wage
Sestak for Congress
Press Release
September 27, 2006
With Just Days Left in the Congressional Session, Last Chance for Weldon to Take Action on Minimum Wage
On Wednesday with just days left in the congressional session former 3 Star Admiral Joe Sestak, the Democratic candidate in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, joined leading House Democrats in calling for Curt Weldon to ask the Republican leadership to schedule a vote on the minimum wage.
"When Curt Weldon voted to increase his pay six times, there were no strings attached," Sestak said. "Why can't we expect the same treatment from Curt Weldon when it comes to raising the federal minimum wage? On July 12, Curt Weldon signed a letter claiming he is for increasing the minimum wagealthough; he refused to sign a bipartisan discharge petition to force an up-or-down vote. Just weeks later, in the middle of the night on July 29, he and the Republican Congress decided that the only way to raise the minimum wage was to grant tax cuts to the richest 8200 households in the nation. That is irresponsible. During this campaign, I have challenged Curt Weldon to give American workers a clean, up-or-down, vote in Congress on whether to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 without conditions. With only a few days left in the current session, I am renewing my call to Curt Weldon that he back up his words with action on the minimum wage.
"The choice in this election is clear: Unlike Curt Weldon, I support increasing the minimum without granting tax cuts to the 8200 richest families. I support middle class tax relief and I have pledged not to accept a pay increase until the federal minimum wage is increased."
In the wee hours of Saturday morning, July 29, Curt Weldon and House Republicans pushed through a hastily written minimum-wage bill that tied an increase in the minimum wage to permanently cutting the estate tax, which would only apply to the richest 8200 estate holders at a cost of roughly $310 billion over ten years [Reuters, 7/29/06, HR 5970, Vote #425, 7/29/06].
This week, several House Democrats sent a letter to 48 House Republicans who signed a letter in July asking their leadership to schedule a vote on the minimum wage. The letter urges those members to "stop this charade" on the minimum wage. It reminds them that they have "the ability to take action on this important issue by signing the bipartisan discharge petition that would force consideration of H.R. 2429. H.R. 2429 would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour over two years."
http://sestakforcongress.com/latest-news/212