John Tierney: “I rise tonight also to add my voice to this important issue of the need to raise the minimum wage. The fact that the…”

“I rise tonight also to add my voice to this important issue of the need to raise the minimum wage. The fact that the Federal minimum wage remains $5.15 an hour is a disgrace. I think it was stated earlier by Mr. Owens that someone who works 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year at minimum wage, they will still be $2,000 below the poverty level for a family of two and $5,000 below the poverty level for a family of three. There are several million Americans who fall into that category working full time year around and living in poverty. We should be able to do better in America. It is a matter of fairness. The American people do not want this kind of situation to continue. We can pass legislation to raise minimum wage any time we wish, except that the Republican majority does not wish to bring forward the bill that could do just that. It has been 9 years since we last raised the minimum wage. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the real value of minimum wage is lower today than at any time since 1968. To have the purchasing power it had in 1968, the minimum wage would have to be increased to $7.54 an hour. If it were just to equal 50 percent of the average wage, as it did in the 1950s and 1960s, it would need to be increased to $8.20 an hour. If the minimum wage had grown at the same rate as chief executive officers' pay since 1990, the lowest paid worker in the United States would be earning $25 an hour.…”