Patty Murray: “America's workers deserve a raise, and that is why I rise in strong support of S. 2, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007.…”

“America's workers deserve a raise, and that is why I rise in strong support of S. 2, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. America's workers have helped our country make tremendous gains in productivity and economic growth, and they deserve to share in the prosperity they have created. I am very proud to represent a State that has a high minimum wage, and I want to share some of the lessons we have learned about providing a living wage in the State of Washington. We need to do the right thing and pass a clean minimum wage bill now, without any of the antiworker amendments that may be offered on the other side. As we have heard, it has been almost 10 years since this Congress last raised the minimum wage. During that time, the real value of that wage has fallen by more than 21 percent. At the same time, the costs of health care, energy, and housing have all gone up significantly. As a result, many of our middle-class workers have been squeezed. I can only imagine the challenges minimum wage workers face every day while trying to maintain their families and their dignity on $10,000 a year. We can be proud that America's businesses have prospered over the last decade, thanks to a 31-percent increase in worker productivity and a huge 47-percent increase in profits. Now it is time for the least paid of America's workers to share in those gains.”