Bruce F. Vento: “this GOP minimum wage bill is a hoax; it is really indecent. All year long the Republican House and Senate have refused…”

“this GOP minimum wage bill is a hoax; it is really indecent. All year long the Republican House and Senate have refused to raise the minimum wage, even to have a vote on it. Now we know why: because Republican leadership, between Gingrich and Dole, are devising an excuse, a scheme really, to gut and repeal the existing minimum wage. One step forward, two steps back, a measure which would give a license to the Republican corporate friends to exploit the work force, working families. Working families do not need bait-and-switch. They need, working families do not need, political games. They need a raise. They need empowerment, a wage that takes them above the poverty level, and a Congress that votes for a minimum wage on the level. Mr. Speaker, the best welfare program is a job and a job that pays a living wage. Let us vote for a clean minimum wage bill and give the American people the type of empowerment that working families need: self-sufficiency with an adequate living wage so they can take care of themselves.”