Jay Inslee: “I would just suggest that there are two things that are pretty much universal in our country that ought to support this…”

“I would just suggest that there are two things that are pretty much universal in our country that ought to support this motion. One thing that is universal is the presence of hunger in all parts of the country. The reason that I have come to the floor to share the story that I represent, in a sense, a very upscale area. There are a lot of software millionaires in my district. I represent Microsoft Corporation. But even at the height of the economic boom in the year 2000, the food banks in my area of Washington were experiencing an increase of people coming into the food bank from anywhere from 12 to 50 percent depending on what time of the year. I think that story is an untold story across America. Even in the midst of great prosperity, we have had individuals, because we have a wage structure in this country that does not sufficiently honor work for a lot of folks, that they are still hungry. The second thing that I think is universal in this country, or ought to be, is respect for everyone that works at every wage level.”