Chris Murphy: “Here is what we are talking about here. So how do we take that chart that you are showing there, which I agree cannot…”

“Here is what we are talking about here. So how do we take that chart that you are showing there, which I agree cannot continue to be the way that our society operates. We cannot be a flourishing democracy, we cannot be a flourishing economy if we have so many people doing so poorly and a small group of people doing very well. So how do we go about changing that? And I think the message is that we are not talking in this Chamber about big new government programs. We are not talking about creating new departments and new bureaucracies. All we are talking about is take the existing programs, take the existing set of rules and make them fair. Make them fair. Give everybody a chance to compete. That is what increasing the minimum wage is. I mean, 10 years, while every other cost goes up and the minimum wage stays where it is? Just bring it up to where it needs to be. Just match inflation with your minimum wage. Student loan rates. As the cost of college goes up 41 percent since 2001, well, let's help families match that increasing cost of higher education. And the same thing with the Employee Free Choice Act. Let us have our eyes open to what the reality is on the ground for those who want to organize. Let us recognize how employers have changed some of their tactics, and let us give employees the opportunity to operate on that same level playing field. That is what this is all about.”