Rich Neal: “Today we are voting on a piece of legislation that is long overdue. We are increasing the minimum wage by 90 cents over…”

“Today we are voting on a piece of legislation that is long overdue. We are increasing the minimum wage by 90 cents over 2 years. The value of the minimum wage has dropped to a 40-year low. Today, by increasing the minimum wage we are doing something tangible for the American worker. Two days ago on this floor we passed a tough welfare bill. The major goal of this bill is to move individuals off of welfare and to work. Increasing the minimum wage goes hand in hand with welfare reform. To encourage individuals to work we have to make work more attractive. Increasing the minimum wage is a step in making work a better alternative. By earning more there will be less of a need for Federal assistance such as food stamps. We are helping workers become more self-sufficient. The Small Business Job Protection Act includes many tax provisions that many of us have been working on the past few years. Many of these provisions have been long awaited. The tax provisions do not include everything I would have liked, but I believe it's a good package that will go along with helping small businesses. This bill includes a provision which would assist the fishermen of New Bedford, MA. I cannot think of a better example of a small business. I am a strong supporter of IRA's and believe we should provide tax incentives to encourage savings. This legislation includes a provision which increases the availability for spousal IRA's.”