Maurice Hinchey: “first I want to express my thanks to the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Clay] for his tireless and dedicated leadership on…”

“first I want to express my thanks to the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Clay] for his tireless and dedicated leadership on behalf of working Americans and to strongly support this legislation, H.R. 3448. At long last this body today has the opportunity to provide some relief to working families in my district in New York and across the country. A 90-cent increase in the minimum wage will raise the earnings of a full-time minimum worker by $1,872 a year. If we had raised the minimum wage last year as we advocated, in New York alone minimum wage workers would have earned an additional $181 million last year. Nevertheless, this now will help thousands of families work themselves out of poverty and raise their standard of living. While I would have preferred to see the minimum wage increased higher than $5.15 an hour and put into effect sooner than October 1, I support this bill in its current form recognizing that it is the best we are going to get. In addition to raising wages, the tax relief contained in the bill will help small businesses hire more workers, invest in new equipment and create more jobs. Finally the expansion of the availability of IRA deductions to homemakers is a good idea and one that I advocated since the beginning of this Congress. I am glad to see it finally enacted.”