Christopher Shays: “Mr. Speaker, there are a large number of Republicans who believe that the minimum wage is destructive and that an…”

“Mr. Speaker, there are a large number of Republicans who believe that the minimum wage is destructive and that an increase would be harmful to our country. There are a number of Republicans who take a different view. My purpose for standing there today is to encourage my colleagues to vote to pass the motion for the previous question, but to say that time is running out. I understand my colleagues on the other side have been forcing this issue each and every week. It does force others to deal with it more quickly than we may have wanted to. But our leadership on this side of the aisle needs the opportunity to see if there is a way to come forward with a package that meets the concerns of us to support a minimum wage and also meets the legitimate concerns of some of my colleagues. I would like to tell my colleagues why I support an increase in the minimum wage, why I agree with my colleague. It is at a 40-year low. If we do not increase the minimum wage, it will be at a 40-year low. The minimum wage in 1968 was at the high point in terms of its purchasing power. If we had indexed for inflation from 1968, that minimum wage would be $7.08 today, not $4.25. I believe the modest increase that we voted on in 1989 was fair and right. I do not believe it caused unemployment, I do not believe it created higher prices. I believe it lifted up the bottom level.”