Janice Hahn: “The Federal minimum wage has failed to keep up with the cost of living, leaving far too many families on the brink of…”

“The Federal minimum wage has failed to keep up with the cost of living, leaving far too many families on the brink of poverty. For millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet on the current minimum wage, times have gotten harder and harder. Increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour would be especially important for the thousands of working women currently trying to pull their families out of poverty. Two-thirds of minimum wage workers are women. Nearly a third of the families headed by a single female are living in poverty. This is wrong. No mother who works hard at a full-time job to provide for her children and family should be living in poverty. Our success as a nation hinges on the success of women. When women succeed, America succeeds. That is why I have just signed a discharge petition to bring a bill to this floor so that we can vote on raising the Federal minimum wage to $10.10 for all hardworking Americans, including our mothers and daughters. I think it is time. Let's give America a raise. ____________________”