Mark Pocan: “I thank Representative Lowenthal. On behalf of the Progressive Caucus, thank you for showing some of the other issues…”

“I thank Representative Lowenthal. On behalf of the Progressive Caucus, thank you for showing some of the other issues we're working on. We're fighting for equality for every single person across the country. We want everyone to have access to democracy. We need to have meaningful campaign finance reform, from the Citizens United decision to every single candidate for Congress and how we fund our campaigns. We need to make sure every single person has the right to vote in this country, something that because of the recent Supreme Court decision isn't guaranteed. But one thing the Progressive Caucus today really wanted to highlight, and we have made the case, why we joined so many workers across the country in the month of August who are getting paid minimum wage, who are barely getting by, who aren't being treated fairly in their workplace: we literally have too many people who are paid too little for the work they do. As Representative Nolan said, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. It's not a talking point, it's a fact. It's the actual statistics that are out there. If we're going to help people support their families, if we're going to help support the economy, if we're really going to take people off of government assistance, the very ones who are working and yet having to be on government assistance because of the low wage they make, there's a simple answer, and that's increase the minimum wage. That's what we came here to talk about today, Mr.…”