Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, corporate America and Wall Street are awash in profits and cash, but American workers haven't had the benefit of a Federal minimum wage increase in over a decade, while the prices of everything have gone up--medicine, housing, food, cars. A recent study found there isn't a single congressional district in our Nation where a full-time minimum wage worker can afford a two-bedroom apartment. While many States and cities have raised their own minimum wage requirements, millions of Americans are stuck at $7.25 an hour. What does this really mean? A person working full time for minimum wage takes home an annual salary of just a bit over $15,000 a year. With inflation, these workers have effectively had their wages cut by an astonishing 17 percent. That is why I rise today in support of the Raise the Wage Act, a bill that will gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2025, lift 27 million American workers out of poverty, give roughly 40 million Americans a raise--nearly a third of our workforce--and stimulate local economies as Americans have more money to spend. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.”