Richard Gephardt: “do not be fooled. This is not an illustration of bipartisanship at work. This debate is a good illustration of how to…”

“do not be fooled. This is not an illustration of bipartisanship at work. This debate is a good illustration of how to turn what should have been a proud bipartisan moment for the House into a partisan action by Republican leaders. The majority is performing a charade of bipartisanship. It is not the real thing. For more than 2 years, there has been a true bipartisan effort in this House to increase the minimum wage by $1 over 2 years. This effort has repeatedly run head on into the desire by Republican leaders to keep this issue off the floor for good, but the bipartisan coalition never gave up, thanks to the efforts of Members on both sides of the aisle like the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Quinn). Because of their persistence and because of the insistence of the American people, Republican leaders had no choice but to bring a minimum wage bill to the floor. Like so many times before, Republican leaders decided if they could not kill a popular bill they disagree with, they would kill it through neglect. They would try and kill it, attacking it in the light of day on the floor of the House with legislative trickery. Today they are dispensing dollars to the wealthy through the tax bill that is going to be attached at the end, but pennies to the working poor.”