Bob Wise: “I want to rise today to state my support of the President's proposal to raise the minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.15 in 45…”

“I want to rise today to state my support of the President's proposal to raise the minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.15 in 45 cent increments. Today in West Virginia a family of three making the minimum wage is below the poverty line, making $8,800 a year. In the 1960's and 1970's, a family of three making the minimum wage was above the poverty line, but today they would be $3,500 below the official poverty line. The minimum wage today is, in real dollars, $2.25 below the real value of the minimum wage in 1968. The income gap is only widening for West Virginia families. In fact, 17 percent of our families in West Virginia earn less than $5 per hour. Mr. Speaker, we are asking, and rightly so, people to leave welfare. We are trying to create jobs. We are telling people the most important thing is to work. There must be a reward to work. One of the rewards is making sure that the minimum wage is not a truly poverty wage, as it is today. I support the raising of the minimum wage.”