DeLauro 7.18.19 Floor Speech

Let's be clear since Franklin Roosevelt the federal government and the government has been increasing the federal wage Don't let them get away with this hog wash about what we do and what we don't do here You know wages for the top one percent have grown a hundred and 50 percent since 1970 - wages for Middle class families,working families have stagnated their wages do not keep up with the skyrocketing cost of health care prescription drugs childcare housing Education this is the single biggest economic challenge of our time so today, full time year round work at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 leaves a family of three below the federal poverty line. Unacceptable! Because working people have more than earned a raise. According to the Economic Policy Institute, a minimum wage increase equal to the increases in worker productivity, it would be more than $20 an hour. Congress needs to make this right. Clearly, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle do not respect the work of 34 million Americans. They don't respect the dignity of the work that these folks do. It is our job. Let us pass the raise the minimum wage act. Working people are doing their jobs. Let us do ours. I ask unanimous consent to introduce into the record a letter from the the AFT