WASHINGTON, DC - One of the leading voices in the House on increasing the minimum wage, and a former welfare recipient herself, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma) today lauded the passage of the first minimum wage increase in more than a decade.  In a press conference with Senate Health and Labor Committee Chair Ted Kennedy, House Committee on Education and Labor Chair George Miller and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Woolsey celebrated the passage of the wage increase, while calling on the Senate to quickly follow their lead and pass a clean bill:

“For me, this issue is personal, because forty years ago as a single mother of three small children, I was employed, although my paycheck was not enough to make ends meet.

“I used to struggle to pay for what my family needed to survive, and was forced to go on public assistance to add to my paycheck.  Like my experience, today, there are many, many Americans, particularly women with children, who are working hard, earning minimum wage, and still coming up short.

“They put in a full forty-hour work week, many working two, even three jobs, and they still live below the poverty line.  It’s more than disgraceful; it should be considered a violation of a person’s civil rights in a prosperous nation like ours to not provide adequate compensation for work.

“I’m proud to be a member of the Majority that puts this issue front and center, and to correct this injustice.

“We passed this important legislation in the House, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate to take it up as soon as possible and pass a clean bill.

Woolsey is a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor.