James Traficant: “I want to commend the Speaker, the Republican leadership and the Republican Party for giving us an opportunity to bring…”

“I want to commend the Speaker, the Republican leadership and the Republican Party for giving us an opportunity to bring this amendment. I want to thank the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina for being so fair, which he always is. Ironically as we bash around here, in the last 4 years there have been two minimum wage increases and the Republicans were in the majority. Quite frankly, I do not like the spin that it is mean spirited by the Republicans to oppose the minimum wage. I believe they make a valid argument that inflation could hurt every one of our workers. Now having made that statement, I think it is time to tell it like it is. We have people out there that are struggling to make a go of it. We have gasoline prices now approaching $2.00. We have families that build the economy, not kill it. The last minimum wage increase spurred an economic boom for the following simple reason: Poor people do not have enough money to save. Poor people spend their money, put their money on the streets and they grow the economy. This is a growth bill, not a wage increase bill.”