Joe Crowley: “I truly believe that today this debate should be first and foremost about giving a raise to America's lowest paid…”

“I truly believe that today this debate should be first and foremost about giving a raise to America's lowest paid workers with tax relief for the small businesses that would be most affected. Believe me when I say that no one can support a family, especially in my district in New York City, on $5.15 an hour. A full-time, year-round minimum-wage worker earns only $10.72. That is almost $3,000 less than the $13,290 needed to raise a family of three out of poverty, and much less than what it takes to provide any sort of comfortable existence for a working family. Every year we do not increase the minimum wage, its current value decreases. In fact, if we do not increase the minimum wage today, its value will fall to $4.67 by the year 2003 in inflation-adjusted dollars; $4.67 an hour for a week's work that will only bring in $186.80, and that is before taxes.”