Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Leger Fernandez. Let me start by saying what an honor it is to serve with you, and I think this is our first action on the floor. I am really glad you are here, and I appreciate your leadership. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight because too many workers across the country have not received a raise in far too long. They include the frontline and essential workers who have kept our economy going during the worst public health crisis in nearly a century. These workers deserve better pay. That is why we must raise the minimum wage, step- by-step to $15 an hour by 2025, and we have to start doing it right now. The Federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour for over a decade. This is the longest stretch of time that we have not raised the minimum wage since it was first introduced in 1938. Mr. Speaker, $7.25 is far too low. That is not an adequate wage for anyone, regardless of age or occupation. It is a poverty wage which prevents workers from realizing the American Dream. By gradually raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, 27 million low-wage workers will get a raise--27 million people. We will lift nearly a million people out of poverty, including a lot of kids. And we will put an extra $333 billion in the pockets of poor and working-class Americans and their families over the next decade. This money will be a lifeline for the working men and women of this country. It will go towards food. It will go towards rent.…”