Steny Hoyer: “My point to the gentleman is, yes, we think people ought to be paid a decent wage, and we know there are people in our…”

“My point to the gentleman is, yes, we think people ought to be paid a decent wage, and we know there are people in our workplace and in our community who have no bargaining power whatsoever. They don't have fancy college educations, and they don't have fancy skills, but they are needed in our economy. They are needed to do things that the community needs done. When you go to a hotel, you hope that bed is made up. You hope the bathrooms are clean. When you go to the grocery store, you hope that the peas and corn have been picked. We believe that those folks are necessary for our community and need to be paid a decent wage, just as we think they need to be safe. I am glad the gentleman agrees on that. I thought he did. But my point, Madam Speaker, is that there is an analogy here to safety, to hours, to working conditions, and yes, to wages. I don't know that the party that the gentleman represents has ever offered an increase in the minimum wage. I am going to check on that. I don't know. Since I have been here, they have not. It has always been us offering the increase. President George Bush, to his credit, signed the Fair Minimum Wage Act in 2007, which was still less than it was in 1968. As a matter of fact, it is 40 percent less today than it was in 1968. Workers are being paid 40 percent less.…”