David Obey: “I am urging every Member to vote ``no'' on the rule as a protest against the Rules Committee action in refusing to allow…”

“I am urging every Member to vote ``no'' on the rule as a protest against the Rules Committee action in refusing to allow a minimum-wage increase amendment to be attached to this bill. I know that there are some people that say it shouldn't be on this bill; but the fact is, Mr. Hoyer and I and several others tried to have it attached to the Labor-Health-Education appropriations bill, and after we won, with the help of seven Republicans and 1 Democrat, the House Republican leadership decided to prevent that bill from coming to the floor of the House. So now we are trying to attach it to this bill. I make no apology for that. The majority leader of the Senate attached 40 pages of unrelated language to the defense bill last year, language which insulated the pharmaceutical industry from lawsuits. This issue is not about committee jurisdiction. This issue is about whose side are you on. For more than 9 years, we have seen no increase in the minimum wage. I take that problem personally, because after my parents were divorced, my mother worked for the minimum wage, and I can tell you how it feels to see a woman work 40 hours and come home with less than $40 in the check. It doesn't feel very good. I can tell you how it feels to see you run out of money before you run out of days of the month, so at the end of every month, you have to take a household item, a table or a lamp or a radio, down to Etzkins' Pawn Shop to get a little money to get through the month.…”