Victor Fazio: “we need to put working people first. The minimum wage increase proposed today will allow hard-working Americans the…”

“we need to put working people first. The minimum wage increase proposed today will allow hard-working Americans the opportunity to take control of their future and secure for themselves and their families a place in America's middle class. Too many Americans are struggling to make ends meet. They work longer hours for lower pay. The average minimum-wage worker brings home about half of his or her family's income. Sixty-five percent of them are adults. Providing people who are playing by the rules with more take-home pay will benefit not just a select few, it will help all of us. And we have a moral responsibility to insure that people who work are not living in poverty. As we emphasize the importance of moving people off welfare and onto work and the Congress begins that debate, we should not lose at all the simple fact that a decent hourly wage cuts through a sea of Federal benefits programs and elaborate job-training programs to provide a firm hand of support. The President has taken the lead in making work pay for all Americans. This Congress must respond to that challenge.”