On the recordJuly 17, 2019
I appreciate hearing from my distinguished friend and colleague on the Rules Committee, Mr. Burgess. There is a lot to unpack from what he said. Let me make a few points before I yield to my colleagues on my side of the aisle. First of all, as it relates to the economic numbers, the picture that Mr. Burgess painted is heavily overstated. What it doesn't take into consideration is the full picture here, which is the question of, if you are going to establish as a matter of public policy that there ought to be a minimum wage throughout this country, you do so recognizing that that minimum wage ought to continue to keep pace so that it doesn't get eroded over time. I will come back to that in a minute. I want to remind the gentleman that this change alone would lift 1.3 million people out of poverty--600,000 of whom are children who live in poverty--even though they might work 2,000 hours a year, what we consider full-time, full employment. It is extraordinary. The savings alone to the government for people who are no longer in poverty and who might rise out of the need for public programs will be significant. Thirty million people would benefit from this. Thirty million Americans benefit from the legislation that Mr. Scott has advanced. I also note that this economy has been growing for a decade now, what I call the Obama recovery, which has continued.…
