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WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the Chairman-Designate of the Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement today in response to comments from President Bush, delivered at his press conference this morning, about raising the national minimum wage:
“I am pleased to hear that President Bush supports a national minimum wage increase from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour. But let’s be clear: given that nearly a decade has passed since the last minimum wage increase, no one can seriously believe that the proposed increase will harm the small business sector. More than half the states already have laws setting their own minimum wages above $5.15 per hour. The states have been forced to act because Congress, for far too long, has failed to act.
“A minimum wage increase should not and need not be conditional on other legislation or policy changes. Increasing the minimum wage is the right thing to do; it is long overdue; it has the overwhelming support of the American people; and when Congress returns in January, it is what we will do.”
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