Political Quotes

“I rise to introduce H.R. 3846, a bill to raise the minimum wage $1 over 3 years, which is a complementary bill to the small business tax relief in H.R. 3832. In 1996, I ran for this seat in Congress as an opponent of the minimum wage. My Democratic opponent and I debated this issue 13 times throughout the 20th district. In the last debate in Centralia, Illinois, a portion of the debate was for questions from the audience. A man raised his hand and went to the microphone wanting to address the issue of the minimum wage. What he said there in that question solidified my position on this issue. He said, because of the increase in the last minimum wage, I lost my second job. This story reflects the reality that our decisions here have a direct impact, sometimes a negative impact, on the very people we are trying to help. Mr. Speaker, I join the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio), the gentleman from California (Mr. Condit), and the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Cramer) in crafting this bill, H.R. 3842, for two reasons. One, it is a political reality that the minimum wage is going to be increased during this Congress. While some may not like to hear it, it is true. However, if we are going to raise the minimum wage, I want to take an active role to ensure that no one loses their job as a result. These bills merged together will do just that.”