Steny Hoyer: “I want to quote. He said this: ``Equality means dignity, and dignity demands a job and a paycheck that lasts through the…”

“I want to quote. He said this: ``Equality means dignity, and dignity demands a job and a paycheck that lasts through the week.'' That is what this vote is about... Increasing the minimum wage is simply a matter of doing what's right, just and fair. Eighty-nine percent of the American people support such an increase, according to a Newsweek poll. President Bush has expressed his support. And a bipartisan majority of the Senate passed a minimum wage increase in June 2006. Now, we urge our colleagues in the Senate to hold a clean up-or-down vote on this issue as soon as possible. In the United States of America, the richest nation on earth, workers should not be relegated to poverty if they work hard and play by the rules. On Monday, we commemorate the life of a great American--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And Dr. King once said: ``Equality means dignity.…”