Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2005

Mr. President, every day we see more evidence that this economy is not working for millions of Americans. One troubling trend is the growing divide between rich and poor the widening gap in income inequality and the distribution of wealth in our country.

Over the past 24 years, the most fortunate Americans, in the top 1 percent, saw their incomes more than double from an average of $306,000 to over $700,000. During that same period, the incomes of average Americans grew just 15 percent.

But the poorest fifth of our citizens saw their already inadequate incomes grow just $600--over 24 years.

As a result, the top 1 percent of Americans now get over 12 percent of all the income, up over 50 percent 24 years ago. And the share of the average family actually dropped. The share going to the bottom fifth dropped even more.

We are moving apart, not coming together, as a nation. Last year, the Chair of the Federal Reserve called growing concentration of income in the hands of a tiny minority ``a really serious problem.''

There are many things we need to do to get our economy working for working families. One place to start is at the bottom among those Americans who work at full-time jobs and remain below the poverty line. We should not permit that to happen. If we honor work, we have to reward it. We should not stand for any American to work a full-time job and come home too poor to meet the basic needs.

The minimum wage has not increased since 1996--and all of that increase has been wiped out by the cost of living. The minimum wage today, at $5.15 an hour, is even worth less in today's dollars than the $4.25 rate it replaced.

Today, the minimum wage is worth only a third of the average hourly wage of American workers, the lowest level in more than half a century. The bottom rung of the ladder of opportunity is broken. It is time to fix it.

That is why I am a cosponsor of S. 1062, which will raise the minimum wage in three stages, over the next 3 years, to $7.25 an hour.

That means a pay raise for over 7 million workers and lifting the floor under everybody's wages.

It has been 10 years since we last raised the minimum wage. Over the past few years, we have passed tax cuts that last year alone gave over $100,000 to the wealthiest among us. The gap between rich and poor is now as big as it was during the Great Depression.

Raising the minimum wage is only the first step in restoring balance and fairness to our economy. But it is past time for us to take that step. We must not wait any longer.

Mr. President, it has now been 8 long years since the Nation's hardworking men and women had an increase in the minimum wage. The essence of the American dream is that if people work hard and play by the rules they can succeed in life and support their families. But for millions of hardworking Americans earning the minimum wage, that dream has become a cruel hoax. An American who works full time, year- round at the current minimum wage of $5.15 an hour earns $10,700 a year--$5,000 below the poverty line for a family of three. The minimum wage is too low.

Today Congressman George Miller and I are introducing the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2005 to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour in three steps over the next 2 years. This increase will directly raise the pay of

seven and a half million workers, and indirectly benefit eight million more. Sixty-one percent of the beneficiaries are women, and one-third of those women are mothers. More than a third are people of color.

Two new reports emphasize the urgency of this increase for millions of low-wage Americans and their families. The Children's Defense Fund reports that a single parent working full time at the current minimum wage earns enough to cover only 40 percent of the cost of raising two children. Nearly 10 million children live in households that would benefit from the increase we are proposing.

A report from the Center for Economic Policy Research shows that minimum wage jobs are not just entry-level jobs for teenagers, contrary to what we often hear from opponents of the minimum wage. A third of minimum wage earners from ages 25 to 54 will still be earning the minimum wage 3 years later. Only 40 percent of them will have moved out of the low-wage workforce 3 years later.

No matter how hard they work, minimum wage workers are forced each day to make impossible choices--between paying the rent and buying groceries, or between paying the heating bill and buying clothes. These hardworking Americans have earned a raise and they deserve a raise. No one who works for a living should have to live in poverty.

Mr. President, I understand there are two other bills at the desk that are due for a second reading. I ask unanimous consent that they be read for a second time, en bloc.

Mr. President, in order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to further proceeding en bloc.

Mr. President, I understand that there are two bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading en bloc.

Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading and, in order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request, all en bloc.