Steny Hoyer: “we are about to go home; 1995 was about the principles of the majority, and 1996 is about the politics of the majority.…”

“we are about to go home; 1995 was about the principles of the majority, and 1996 is about the politics of the majority. The Contract With America, does anybody remember that? It has not been mentioned much; unremembered, unhonored and not inclusive of what this bill does, because the central part of this bill is the minimum wage. Yesterday we did something to try to do a little bit for health care for Americans: preexisting conditions, portability. It is not in the contract. Today we do minimum wage; not in the contract. The contract has been forgotten. Why? Because it is not what the American public wanted. But this minimum wage bill is. It is the right thing to do. Dick Armey was wrong to say that he would fight it until his last breath. I am pleased that we move today on America's agenda.”