Lynn C. Woolsey: “as a former welfare mom, I know what it is like to try to get by on a paycheck that is not enough to make ends meet.…”

“as a former welfare mom, I know what it is like to try to get by on a paycheck that is not enough to make ends meet. Today's minimum wage earner is trying to live on a wage that has not been raised for 9 years. Minimum wage has not been raised in 9 years, but you can be sure the cost of food has gone up over that period of time. The cost of health care has skyrocketed. The price of gas is higher than most people ever imagined it could be. Over 6 million people are trying to live in the year 2006 earning $1,997. So what is the Republican majority's solution to solving the problems for those who do not have enough? {time} 1830 They want to give more tax cuts to those who have more wealth than the average American can even imagine. They want to excuse the richest 7,500 families in this country from contributing like they ought to. It is time we stand up for those who don't have enough. It is time we say no to those who want too much. I urge my colleagues to oppose creating an American aristocracy by repealing the estate tax. Vote ``no'' on this rule until we have a clean up-or-down vote on the minimum wage. Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I want to state for the record, just so there is no question as to where the Republican majority is coming from, let me read to you a quote that appeared in a June 22 story of the Associated Press entitled ``GOP-Run Senate Kills Minimum Wage.'' This is a quotation from our House Majority Leader.…”