Political Quotes

“I thank my good friend from New Jersey for those very insightful and thoughtful observations. I think the organized labor movement has a pretty simple objective in that a hard day's work should be compensated by a good day's pay; and anybody that works hard to provide for their family should be able to take care of their family, possibly even with a solidly middle class existence. That seems like that is consistent with the idea of who we are as a country. We, of course, right now have a minimum wage that is so low--$7.25 an hour--that you can work 40 hours a week and a family of four will still fall below the poverty line. We've seen income inequality reach levels that are as bad as they were during the Great Depression. Part of the reason for these economic phenomena clearly have to do with the decline of Americans and their participation in the workforce as union members. It's something that we just have to confront here in this country in deciding what type of America we're going to become as we move forward into the future. I've been joined by another extremely distinguished, eloquent, thoughtful colleague from the great State of Ohio, and I'm pleased to yield the floor now to Representative Joyce Beatty.”