How would you feel if you or a member of your family had not received a pay raise of any kind – even for inflation – in more than eight years?  I am certain that most of you would be hard-pressed to make ends meet, but that is exactly what has happened to approximately 8 million Americans who depend on the minimum wage to support their families.

 Today, the minimum wage is $5.15 and it has not been increased since 1997.  In fact, a full-time minimum wage earner currently makes $10,712 a year, well below the poverty line of $14,824 for a family of three.  The National Low Income Housing Coalition has issued a report that found there is not a single county in the United States where a full-time worker making the minimum wage could afford a one-bedroom apartment.

 I have co-sponsored the Fair Minimum Wage Act, HR 2429, which would raise the minimum wage to $7.25 over a two-year period.  I believe that working Americans should not be relegated to living in poverty, but should be able to earn a living wage -- a wage that allows them to house, feed and clothe their families.

 In 1996, I voted for welfare reform as a way to encourage work.  It has been successful in reducing the welfare rolls by 54% in almost a decade.  But, we have not been successful in reducing poverty among low-income working families.  In fact, since 2000, we have seen the poverty rate in this nation increase from 11.3% to 12.7%.  The next step in welfare reform must be to help working Americans get out of poverty and increasing the minimum wage is an important step. 

 Women have been particularly hard hit by our failure to increase the minimum wage.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 66% of workers who make the federal minimum wage or less are women.  An estimated 760,000 single mothers with children under 18 would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage.  African-Americans are also disproportionately affected by this wage stagnation: while African-Americans represent 11.1% of the total workforce, 15.3% of African-American workers would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage.

 Unfortunately, there are some myths about raising the minimum wage and the number one myth is that it leads to unemployment.  Not true.  Numerous studies have failed to find any significant job loss associated with an increase in the minimum wage.  Another myth is that most minimum wage earners are teenagers picking up extra money.  Also not true.  Currently, 72% of minimum wage earners are adults. 

 Today, the true value of the minimum wage is near its lowest point in 50 years.  If the minimum wage were worth today what it was worth in 1968, it would be $8.88 an hour -- not $5.15.  Raising the minimum wage would help reverse the decline in real wages for low-income workers.

 That’s why Congress needs to act now to increase the minimum wage for millions of Americans.  We need to do all we can to help working families climb out of poverty and raising the minimum wage is an important way to accomplish that goal.

                                                                   --##--