Nick Rahall: “This is the final amendment to the bill. It will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If the amendment is…”

“This is the final amendment to the bill. It will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If the amendment is adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage, as amended. My amendment is quite simple. It raises the minimum wage to $10.10. My amendment assures that, in America, if you work hard, you will not be forced to live in poverty. In this era of stagnant and falling wages, of a widening gap in inequality between the haves and the have-nots, we must ensure that the promise of the American Dream remains a reality for all Americans, not just the wealthiest among us. We can't just say it. We have to act to make it possible. Today, the minimum wage is 22 percent below its peak level in the 1960s. It has not increased since July 2009, when it reached $7.25 per hour. It has not been raised in five long years. It has not increased since the near bottom of the Great Recession, when working Americans were walloped by the greed and reckless behavior of the privileged and the elite on Wall Street. We like to think that, if you work hard, if you earn calloused hands, you can rise to the heights of success in America. The reality is that, by not raising the minimum wage, we are condoning--we are endorsing a pay cut for the very hardworking Americans that we speak about in such glowing terms whenever we talk about working our way--working your way up the ladder. Such doublespeak makes a mockery of the American Dream.…”