William L. Clay: “Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer a motion to instruct conferees. We have spent this morning debating a bill that will…”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer a motion to instruct conferees. We have spent this morning debating a bill that will jeopardize overtime pay for working Americans. More and more workers rely on overtime pay just to make ends meet, yet Republicans insist on passing legislation that will weaken a worker's right to time and a half pay for overtime. The House's action today makes it even more necessary that we act quickly to enact an increase in the minimum wage. An increase to the minimum wage will provide simple justice for working men and women. We offer talk about the importance of getting people off welfare. If we are serious about that, if we really want to get people off welfare as opposed to just talking about it, there is one simple way to do that--make work pay. Almost two-thirds of the minimum wage workers are adults, while 4 in 10 are the sole breadwinner of their family. Recent studies suggest that 300,000 would be lifted out of poverty if the minimum wage were raised to $5.15 per hour. This includes 100,000 children now living in poverty. Mr. Speaker, this is a matter of simple justice. This is a matter of promoting family values. It is time to do something positive for the working poor. Polls show that 75 percent of Americans support raising the minimum wage. Mr. Speaker, the time to raise the minimum wage is long overdue.”