Eva M. Clayton: “the Republicans make us talk about an issue that they say is irrelevant because they refuse to allow a full discussion…”

“the Republicans make us talk about an issue that they say is irrelevant because they refuse to allow a full discussion about the minimum wage. Therefore, we must take this opportunity to talk about the minimum wage. It is relevant. It is relevant to millions of Americans, their families, their mothers, who depend on the lowest of wages, and it should be relevant to you if you care about the American taxpayer. Why should it be irrelevant? Why should we be put in such a position to beg for those who need to be concerned? You have refused to understand what it means to not have food, what it means to not have shelter, what it means not to have the basic resources to take care of your family, and yet on the other side you talk about family values. You talk about expediency. How can you not reconcile the indifference that you are showing toward the very people you say you care about? It is relevant. It is relevant, I would say, Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the majority leader has said before.”