Joe Baca: “I rise in behalf of the working families. I am speaking about the $1 increase in the minimum wage over the next 2 years…”

“I rise in behalf of the working families. I am speaking about the $1 increase in the minimum wage over the next 2 years, and I oppose the passage of the tax scheme provision, the Republican tax bill, H.R. 3081, that benefits the wealthy. We are talking about a cost over 10 years of $122 billion. That is not being fiscally responsible. We are talking about the need to be fiscally responsible, and we have that responsibility. We have the responsibility to do the death tax reduction. This bill is not dealing with the death tax reduction. We have the responsibility to working families, families right now that need an increase. There are many individuals that are struggling right now. I myself come from a poor family and know what it is like to struggle, when one is just making minimum wage. Many of our students that are up in the gallery and others are saying look, we need an increase right now. We want to make sure that we can afford to put food on the table. We want to enjoy the same things that other individuals enjoy. We want to enjoy the quality of life. We want to make sure that we do not have to struggle like many others. We are very fortunate in our country that we have the ability for those of us who earn the money, but for those individuals that are poor and disadvantaged, we need to help them.”