Steny Hoyer: “Mr. Speaker, I am extraordinarily happy to rise in support of this legislation. This legislation is very late in coming…”

“Mr. Speaker, I am extraordinarily happy to rise in support of this legislation. This legislation is very late in coming to this floor as a free-standing bill. It is, however, never too late to do the right thing. This legislation, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, is long overdue. I believe it will pass this House today with broad bipartisan support, as the 9/11 bill did yesterday, making our country safer. At long last, Mr. Speaker, this House is just hours away from finally passing a clean increase in the Federal minimum wage and sending this legislation to the Senate, where we devoutly hope the Members of the other body will do the same without delay. H.R. 2 is the second key piece of legislation in the new Democratic majority's 100-hours agenda, and we are following through on our pledge to the American people to immediately address these critical issues. There is probably not a Member of this House who fails to appreciate that an American who works full time at today's minimum wage of $5.15 per hour is essentially living in poverty. That is not right, Mr. Speaker.”