[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 121 (Thursday, July 18, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H7095-H7128]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RAISE THE WAGE ACT
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 492,
I call up the bill (H.R. 582) to provide for increases in the Federal
minimum wage, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate
consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 492, the
amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on
Education and Labor, printed in the bill, modified by the amendment
printed in part A of House Report 116-155, is adopted, and the bill, as
amended, is considered read.
The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows:
H.R. 582
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Raise the Wage Act''.
SEC. 2. MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES.
(a) In General.--Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) is amended to
read as follows:
``(1) except as otherwise provided in this section, not
less than--
``(A) $8.40 an hour, beginning on the effective date under
section 7 of the Raise the Wage Act;
``(B) $9.50 an hour, beginning 1 year after such effective
date;
``(C) $10.60 an hour, beginning 2 years after such
effective date;
``(D) $11.70 an hour, beginning 3 years after such
effective date;
``(E) $12.80 an hour, beginning 4 years after such
effective date;
``(F) $13.90 an hour, beginning 5 years after such
effective date;
``(G) $15.00 an hour, beginning 6 years after such
effective date; and
``(H) beginning on the date that is 7 years after such
effective date, and annually thereafter, the amount
determined by the Secretary under subsection (h);'',
(b) Determination Based on Increase in the Median Hourly
Wage of All Employees.--Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``(h)(1) Not later than each date that is 90 days before a
new minimum wage determined under subsection (a)(1)(H) is to
take effect, the Secretary shall determine the minimum wage
to be in effect under this subsection for each period
described in subsection (a)(1)(H). The wage determined under
this subsection for a year shall be--
``(A) not less than the amount in effect under subsection
(a)(1) on the date of such determination;
``(B) increased from such amount by the annual percentage
increase, if any, in the median hourly wage of all employees
as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics; and
``(C) rounded up to the nearest multiple of $0.05.
``(2) In calculating the annual percentage increase in the
median hourly wage of all employees for purposes of paragraph
(1)(B), the Secretary, through the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, shall compile data on the hourly wages of all
employees to determine such a median hourly wage and compare
such median hourly wage for the most recent year for which
data are available with the median hourly wage determined for
the preceding year.''.
SEC. 3. TIPPED EMPLOYEES.
(a) Base Minimum Wage for Tipped Employees and Tips
Retained by Employees.--Section 3(m)(2)(A)(i) of the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)(i)) is
amended to read as follows:
``(i) the cash wage paid such employee, which for purposes
of such determination shall be not less than--
``(I) for the 1-year period beginning on the effective date
under section 7 of the Raise the Wage Act, $3.60 an hour;
``(II) for each succeeding 1-year period until the hourly
wage under this clause equals the wage in effect under
section 6(a)(1) for such period, an hourly wage equal to the
amount determined under this clause for the preceding year,
increased by the lesser of--
``(aa) $1.50; or
``(bb) the amount necessary for the wage in effect under
this clause to equal the wage in effect under section 6(a)(1)
for such period, rounded up to the nearest multiple of $0.05;
and
``(III) for each succeeding 1-year period after the
increase made pursuant to subclause (II), the minimum wage in
effect under section 6(a)(1); and''.
(b) Tips Retained by Employees.--Section 3(m)(2)(A) of the
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)) is
amended--
(1) in the second sentence of the matter following clause
(ii), by striking ``of this subsection, and all tips received
by such employee have been retained by the employee'' and
inserting ``of this subsection. Any employee shall have the
right to retain any tips received by such employee''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following: ``An employer shall
inform each employee of the right and exception provided
under the preceding sentence.''.
(c) Scheduled Repeal of Separate Minimum Wage for Tipped
Employees.--
(1) Tipped employees.--Section 3(m)(2)(A) of the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)), as amended by
subsections (a) and (b), is further amended by striking the
sentence beginning with ``In determining the wage an employer
is required to pay a tipped employee,'' and all that follows
through ``of this subsection.'' and inserting ``The wage
required to be paid to a tipped employee shall be the wage
set forth in section 6(a)(1).''.
(2) Publication of notice.--Subsection (i) of section 6 of
the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206), as
amended by section 5, is further amended by striking ``or in
accordance
[[Page H7096]]
with subclause (II) or (III) of section 3(m)(2)(A)(i)''.
(3) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraphs (1)
and (2) shall take effect on the date that is one day after
the date on which the hourly wage under subclause (III) of
section 3(m)(2)(A)(i) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
(29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)(i)), as amended by subsection (a),
takes effect.
SEC. 4. NEWLY HIRED EMPLOYEES WHO ARE LESS THAN 20 YEARS OLD.
(a) Base Minimum Wage for Newly Hired Employees Who Are
Less Than 20 Years Old.--Section 6(g)(1) of the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(g)(1)) is amended by
striking ``a wage which is not less than $4.25 an hour.'' and
inserting the following: ``a wage at a rate that is not less
than--
``(A) for the 1-year period beginning on the effective date
under section 7 of the Raise the Wage Act, $5.50 an hour;
``(B) for each succeeding 1-year period until the hourly
wage under this paragraph equals the wage in effect under
section 6(a)(1) for such period, an hourly wage equal to the
amount determined under this paragraph for the preceding
year, increased by the lesser of--
``(i) $1.25; or
``(ii) the amount necessary for the wage in effect under
this paragraph to equal the wage in effect under section
6(a)(1) for such period, rounded up to the nearest multiple
of $0.05; and
``(C) for each succeeding 1-year period after the increase
made pursuant to subparagraph (B)(ii), the minimum wage in
effect under section 6(a)(1).''.
(b) Scheduled Repeal of Separate Minimum Wage for Newly
Hired Employees Who Are Less Than 20 Years Old.--
(1) In general.--Section 6(g) of the Fair Labor Standards
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(g)), as amended by subsection (a),
shall be repealed.
(2) Publication of notice.--Subsection (i) of section 6 of
the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206), as
amended by section 3(c)(2), is further amended by striking
``or subparagraph (B) or (C) of subsection (g)(1),''.
(3) Effective date.--The repeal and amendment made by
paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, shall take effect on
the date that is one day after the date on which the hourly
wage under subparagraph (C) of section 6(g)(1) of the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(g)(1)), as amended
by subsection (a), takes effect.
SEC. 5. PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.
Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29
U.S.C. 206), as amended by the preceding sections, is further
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(i) Not later than 60 days prior to the effective date of
any increase in the required wage determined under subsection
(a)(1) or subparagraph (B) or (C) of subsection (g)(1), or in
accordance with subclause (II) or (III) of section
3(m)(2)(A)(i) or section 14(c)(1)(A), the Secretary shall
publish in the Federal Register and on the website of the
Department of Labor a notice announcing each increase in such
required wage.''.
SEC. 6. PROMOTING ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY FOR INDIVIDUALS
WITH DISABILITIES.
(a) Wages.--
(1) Transition to fair wages for individuals with
disabilities.--Subparagraph (A) of section 14(c)(1) of the
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 214(c)(1)) is
amended to read as follows:
``(A) at a rate that equals, or exceeds, for each year, the
greater of--
``(i)(I) $4.25 an hour, beginning 1 year after the date the
wage rate specified in section 6(a)(1)(A) takes effect;
``(II) $6.40 an hour, beginning 2 years after such date;
``(III) $8.55 an hour, beginning 3 years after such date;
``(IV) $10.70 an hour, beginning 4 years after such date;
``(V) $12.85 an hour, beginning 5 years after such date;
and
``(VI) the wage rate in effect under section 6(a)(1), on
the date that is 6 years after the date the wage specified in
section 6(a)(1)(A) takes effect; or
``(ii) if applicable, the wage rate in effect on the day
before the date of enactment of the Raise the Wage Act for
the employment, under a special certificate issued under this
paragraph, of the individual for whom the wage rate is being
determined under this subparagraph,''.
(2) Prohibition on new special certificates; sunset.--
Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29
U.S.C. 214(c)) (as amended by paragraph (1)) is further
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(6) Prohibition on new special certificates.--
Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Secretary shall not issue
a special certificate under this subsection to an employer
that was not issued a special certificate under this
subsection before the date of enactment of the Raise the Wage
Act.
``(7) Sunset.--Beginning on the day after the date on which
the wage rate described in paragraph (1)(A)(i)(VI) takes
effect, the authority to issue special certificates under
paragraph (1) shall expire, and no special certificates
issued under paragraph (1) shall have any legal effect.
``(8) Transition assistance.--Upon request, the Secretary
shall provide--
``(A) technical assistance and information to employers
issued a special certificate under this subsection for the
purposes of--
``(i) transitioning the practices of such employers to
comply with this subsection, as amended by the Raise the Wage
Act; and
``(ii) ensuring continuing employment opportunities for
individuals with disabilities receiving a special minimum
wage rate under this subsection; and
``(B) information to individuals employed at a special
minimum wage rate under this subsection, which may include
referrals to Federal or State entities with expertise in
competitive integrated employment.''.
(3) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection
shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
(b) Publication of Notice.--
(1) Amendment.--Subsection (i) of section 6 of the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206), as amended by
section 4(b)(2), is further amended by striking ``or section
14(c)(1)(A),''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1)
shall take effect on the day after the date on which the wage
rate described in paragraph (1)(A)(i)(VI) of section 14(c) of
the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 214(c)), as
amended by subsection (a)(1), takes effect.
SEC. 7. GENERAL EFFECTIVE DATE.
Except as otherwise provided in this Act or the amendments
made by this Act, this Act and the amendments made by this
Act shall take effect--
(1) subject to paragraph (2), on the first day of the third
month that begins after the date of enactment of this Act;
and
(2) with respect to the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands, on the date that is 18 months after the
effective date described in paragraph (1).
SEC. 8. GAO REPORT.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the Education
and Labor Committee of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the
Senate a report that, with respect to the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands--
(1) assesses the status and structure of the economy
(including employment, earnings and wages, and key
industries); and
(2) for each year in which a wage increase will take effect
under subsection (a)(1) or (g)(1) of section 6, section
3(m)(2)(A)(i), or section 14(c)(1)(A) of the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), as amended by
this Act, estimates the proportion of employees who will be
directly affected by each such wage increase taking effect
for such year, disaggregated by industry and occupation.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill, as amended, shall be debatable for
1 hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking
minority member of the Committee on Education and Labor.
After 1 hour of debate, it shall be in order to consider the further
amendment printed in part B of House Report 116-155, if offered by the
Member designated in the report, which shall be considered read, shall
be separately debatable for the time specified in the report equally
divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, and shall not
be subject to a demand for a division of the question.
The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) and the gentlewoman from
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
General Leave
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks on the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Virginia?
There was no objection.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, the idea behind the Federal minimum wage is simple:
Hardworking Americans should be paid at least enough to provide for
themselves and their families.
After more than a decade with no increase in the minimum wage, the
longest stretch since the minimum wage was established in 1938, it is
no longer serving that purpose.
Today, the Federal minimum wage is a poverty wage in every region of
our Nation. Our Nation's workers deserve better.
The Raise the Wage Act, H.R. 582, gradually increases the Federal
minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. After 2025, this legislation
indexes future increases to the minimum wage to increases in the median
wage so that the value does not erode over time. It gradually phases
out the subminimum wages to ensure that tipped workers, youth workers,
and workers with disabilities are paid at least the full Federal
minimum wage.
The benefits of this legislation are significant and widespread.
Economic analysis estimates that the Raise the Wage Act would increase
wages for up to 33 million workers and lift 1.3 million Americans out
of poverty.
The Raise the Wage Act is not just good for workers. It is good for
the economy.
[[Page H7097]]
While the Republican tax bill gave the largest benefits to
corporations and the wealthy, this bill puts money directly into the
hands of workers, who will spend that money in their communities.
Today is a historic day. For the first time in more than 12 years,
the House is voting to restore the value of the Federal minimum wage
and restore the value of work in America.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to support the Raise the Wage
Act, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as
I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in complete opposition to H.R. 582, a radical,
risky, and unnecessary bill that puts party politics above the best
interests of American workers and their families.
Increasing the Federal minimum wage by 107 percent is a harmful and
unprecedented mandate that would result in millions of job losses for
vulnerable Americans, small business closures, and significant damage
to the U.S. economy.
A detailed study issued this month by the nonpartisan Congressional
Budget Office, CBO, estimates a $15 minimum wage would cause up to 3.7
million lost jobs--3.7 million jobs. One job lost is too many; 3.7
million jobs lost is unconscionable.
Those hurt the most by this bill would be female workers, young
workers, and those with less than a high school diploma.
In our committee earlier this year, we heard testimony from Ms.
Simone Barron, a restaurant worker from Seattle, Washington, where the
minimum wage has already been raised to $15 per hour. Simone said that,
after the city of Seattle raised the minimum wage, her employer moved
her from standard a tip line to a service charge model, which resulted
in her taking home less pay.
Small businesses will also suffer if this far-left policy is
implemented. Without the cash reserves or profit margins to absorb the
increase in labor costs, small businesses will have a choice of several
bad options. Among their choices are laying off workers, raising prices
on their customers, replacing workers with robots, or going out of
business.
The National Federation of Independent Business estimates that
businesses with fewer than 500 employees will account for 57 percent of
job losses, and businesses with fewer than 100 employees will account
for 43 percent of job losses.
Still, my Democratic colleagues are trying to sell this radical wage
hike by claiming it will redistribute wealth and provide poor Americans
with a ``living wage.'' Yet, the CBO predicts that, by 2025, there
would be a $9 billion net reduction in family income resulting from a
$15 minimum wage. This so-called raise would reduce pay for many
American families.
Let's not forget, the U.S. economy is booming, and lesser-skilled
workers are benefiting. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal
reported that ``wages are rising at the fastest rate in a decade for
lower-skilled workers, and unemployment among less-educated Americans
and minorities is near a record low.''
We know from the latest jobs report that progrowth policies like the
Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and eliminating unnecessary
regulations are raising wages, adding jobs, and reducing unemployment.
With 7.3 million unfilled jobs nationwide, job creators know they
must offer competitive wages and benefits to attract and retain
workers, so it is bewildering that Democrats refuse to acknowledge or
celebrate the victories of our present economy and continue to call for
socialist policies. Instead, they want to pass this ill-advised
legislation, which would wreak havoc on the economic progress we have
achieved over the last few years.
The cost of living in New York City is much higher than the cost of
living in my hometown in North Carolina. With such disparities in the
cost of living across the country, mandating a one-size-fits-all wage
hike will cause job losses and harm entry-level workers in many regions
around the country.
Even President Obama's former chairman of economic advisers, Alan
Krueger, argued in October 2015 that raising the minimum wage to $15
would ``put us in uncharted waters and risk undesirable and unintended
consequences.''
H.R. 582 is deeply irresponsible. Workers, families, small
businesses, and the U.S. economy will suffer as a direct result of this
drastic mandate.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I remind my colleague that a vote
against this bill is a vote to deny about 37 percent of workers in her
district of North Carolina a raise of about $3,800 a year.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms.
Bonamici), the chair of the Education and Labor Subcommittee on Civil
Rights and Human Services.
Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Scott for yielding.
The Federal minimum wage has been stagnant for too long, exacerbating
income inequality and leaving working families behind.
A recent study from the National Low Income Housing Coalition found
that someone working 40 hours a week who is earning the Federal minimum
wage or the prevailing State minimum wage cannot afford a two-bedroom
rental home at fair market rent in any State, metropolitan area, or
county in the country.
Workers working full-time should be able to afford basic needs like
food, housing, healthcare, and childcare.
Today, we can support working families by passing the Raise the Wage
Act. This bill will gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by
2025 and make sure that tipped workers, youth, and individuals with
disabilities are paid a full, not a subminimum, wage.
Recent analysis from the Economic Policy Institute found that raising
the Federal minimum wage to $15 an hour would benefit close to 27,000
workers just in northwest Oregon alone.
The Raise the Wage Act is good for workers and good for the economy.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Scott for his leadership, and I urge my
colleagues to support the bill.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson).
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairwoman
from North Carolina for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I certainly rise in favor of upward mobility. I rise in
favor of greater opportunity. But this bill doesn't do that. I rise in
opposition to this underlying bill.
Mr. Speaker, increasing the Federal minimum wage by 107 percent is an
extreme and unprecedented policy that will have a severe and negative
impact on many American families, our Nation's workforce, our economy,
and once again, most importantly, hardworking American families.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, if enacted,
this legislation would cause approximately 3.7 million workers--let's
extrapolate that to families--across this Nation to lose their jobs by
2025.
{time} 0930
My home State of Pennsylvania has estimated that more than 120,000
individuals, thereby families, would be negatively impacted through the
loss of their jobs. That is not upward mobility. That is downward
mobility.
Mr. Speaker, the majority of Americans, 54 percent, think losing up
to 3.7 million jobs for a $15 minimum wage is not a good idea. And 42
percent of families with a minimum-wage earner would see a net
reduction in total family income under the $15 minimum wage. That is
according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Mr. Speaker, that is totally unacceptable.
Now, I have always been a proponent of Federal policies that aim to
lift individuals out of poverty and provide them with skills necessary
to gain good-paying, family-sustaining jobs. We have done that in this
body, and it is working.
We should be promoting bipartisan policies that are proven to enhance
workforce development. For example, last Congress we passed the
Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act,
restoring rungs on a ladder of opportunity.
The President has signed that bill into law, and we are working
diligently
[[Page H7098]]
with the States to ensure that they are doing everything possible to
fill the 7.5 million open jobs in this country, most of them good,
family-sustaining jobs.
We need to ensure that policies enhance job-training programs; so we
are not talking about a minimum wage but, rather, arming individuals
with skills to compete and to earn well above a minimum wage.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. I yield the gentleman from Pennsylvania
an additional 20 seconds.
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, 63 percent of Americans
support our leadership expanding pathways to greater opportunity
through CTE, the better way.
I want everyone who is willing to work in this country to succeed,
but this legislation is not the answer. I encourage my colleagues to
oppose the bill, and then we can talk after this debate so we can get
to work on legislation to make sure job seekers have the skills to
compete and succeed in the modern workforce.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I remind my colleague that his
vote against the bill is a vote to deny about 38 percent of the workers
in his district in Pennsylvania an average wage of about $3,300 a year.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr.
Takano), the chair of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from the
National Employment Law Project in support.
July 16, 2019.
The undersigned organizations enthusiastically support the
Raise the Wage Act of 2019, introduced by Senators Bernie
Sanders (VT) and Patty Murray (WA), Representatives Robert C.
``Bobby'' Scott (VA), Mark Pocan (WI) and Stephanie Murphy
(FL).
If enacted, this legislation would:
Gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour in
2025;
After 2025, adjust the minimum wage each year to keep pace
with growth in the typical worker's wages;
Phase out the outdated subminimum wage for tipped workers,
which has been frozen at a meager $2.13 since 1991; and,
Sunset the much criticized ability of employers to pay
workers with disabilities a subminimum wage through
certificates issued by DOL.
Phase out the subminimum wage for workers under the age of
20.
At a time when wage stagnation and income inequality pose
serious threats to our families and our economy, the Raise
the Wage Act of 2019 will begin to reverse that cycle and
raise pay broadly across the bottom of the workforce.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, this Act will
deliver long-overdue raises to more than 1 in 4 workers, 90%
of whom are over the age of 20. The average age of workers
who would get a raise is 35, nearly half have some years of
college education. In fact, those who work year-round would
see a raise in the order of $3,000 a year, which is enough to
make a tremendous difference in the life of a preschool
teacher, bank teller, or fastfood worker who today struggles
to get by on around $20,000 per year.
28 percent are working parents with children, and half have
family incomes of less than $40,000 per year. Women make up
nearly 58 percent of the workers who would benefit from a $15
minimum wage, which would be instrumental in helping to close
the gender-wage-gap. Raising the minimum wage to $15 would
also significantly benefit workers of color, with 38 percent
of African American workers and 33 percent of Latinos seeing
a pay increase once this law goes into effect.
These are the frontline workers who make America run--yet
due to the erosion of the real value of the minimum wage over
the last half century, they are struggling even as our
economy enjoys a solid recovery.
The time for the Raise the Wage Act is long overdue, and we
cannot delay in working toward its passage. We call on
Congress to enact this important piece of legislation as
quickly as possible, and for President Trump to sign it when
it comes to his desk.
Sincerely,
RI Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW); Raise Minimum
Wages; Raise the Wage PA; Raise-Op Housing Cooperative;
Refuge Ministries Tampa Bay; Regina Mundi Inc.; Religious
Institute; Restaurant Opportunities Center of Michigan (ROC-
MI); Restaurant Opportunities Center of Pennsylvania;
Restaurant Opportunities Centers United RESULTS Raleigh;
RESULTS-Santa Fe; Rural Coalition; Rural Coaltion & Alianza
Nacional de Campesinas; Rural Community Workers Alliance;
Sacramento Housing Aliiance; Sacramento Regional Coalition to
End Homelessness; SafeHouse Denver, Inc; San Diego Hunger
Coalition; San Gabriel Valley-Whittier NOW.
Santa Fe NOW; Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty
Law; Sconiers Homeless Preventive Organization Inc; Seattle
Human Services Coalition; Seattle/King County Coalition on
Homelessness; Second Harvest Food Bank of Lehigh Valley and
Northeast Pennsylvania; SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania; Service
Employees International Union; Sexuality Information and
Education Council of the United States (SIECUS); Sherwood
Community Services; SIA Legal Team; Sinsinawa Dominican Peace
and Justice Office; Sister Reach; Sisters of Charity
Federation; Sisters of Mercy in NH; Sisters of Mercy West
Midwest Community Justice Team; Sisters of Saint Mary of
Namur; Sisters of St Joseph of Chambery Justice and Peace
Committee; Sisters of St. Dominic of Blauvelt, New York;
Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa Leadership Team.
Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate; Sisters of
the Most Precious Blood of O'Fallon, MO; Social Action
Linking Together (SALT); SocioEnergetics Foundation; outh
Carolina Christian Action Council, Inc.; South Dakota Chapter
of the National Association of Social Workers; Southern HIV/
AIDS Strategy Initiative (SASl)/Duke University School of
Law; Southern Mutual Help Association, Inc.; Southern Poverty
Law Center; Southfield Community Church; Southwest PA
National Organization For Women; Southwest Women's Law
Center; Sravasti Abbey; St. James Infirmary; St. Louis CLUW
Chapter; St. Louis Gateway District Area Local--APWU 8; St.
Louis Gateway District Area Local APWU--POWER Sisters; TASH;
Tax Fairness Oregon; Tax March.
Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC);
Tennessee Citizen Action; Tennessee Justice Center; Texas
Employment Lawyers Association; THE ABCD, INC; The
Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis; The Farmworker
Association of Florida; The Greater Boston Food Bank; The HUB
for Progress; The Praxis Project; The Public Interest Law
Project; The Washington Initiative for Supported Employment;
The Welcome Church; TMS Enterprises; Toledo Area Jobs with
Justice & Interfaith worker Justice Coalition; Transition
Services, Inc.; Transport Workers Union of America; Treatment
Action Group (TAG); Trillium Employment Services; Tzedek DC.
UCSF; UETHDA Head Start; Ultra Violet; UnidosUS; Union for
Reform Judaism; Union of Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
USA UNIT; United Food and Commercial Workers International
Union; United Food and Commercial Workers Local 227; United
Food and Commercial Workers Local 75; United for a Fair
Economy; United For Respect; United Steelworkers (USW);
University Church; University of New Mexico Community and
Regional Planning Department; Upper East Tennessee Human
Development Agency; URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender
Equity; Vennmedia: A Nonprofit Media Enterprise; Virginia
Employment Lawyers Association; Voices for Progress; Vote-
Climate.
Wage Equality; Washington Anti-Hunger & Nutrition
Coalition; Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and
Urban Affairs; Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless;
Washington State Budget & Policy Center; Washington State
Community Action Partnership; Watertown Citizens for Peace,
Justice & the Environment; We The People--Pennsylvania;
Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club; West Valley Neighborhoods
Coalition; West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy; Western
Center on Law and Poverty; Western NY Chapter Coalition of
Labor Union Women; Western Pennsylvania Employment Lawyers
Association (WPELA); WHEAT--World Hunger Education, Advocacy
& Training; Whitman-Walker Health; Windham Area Interfaith
Ministry.
Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice; Women Employed; Women's
Fund of Rhode Island; Women's Law Project; Worcester County
Food Bank; Worker Justice Center of New York; Working
Families Party; Working Partnerships USA; Workplace Fairness;
Young Progressives Demanding Action; Youth Care; YWCA of the
University of Illinois; YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish; YWCA
USA; YWCA Utah.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 582, the
Raise the Wage Act.
There is currently no place in America where a worker making $7.25
per hour can afford a two-bedroom apartment. Millions of families are
struggling to make ends meet. As one of the richest countries in the
world, we should be ashamed.
This bill will give 27 million workers a raise and lift 1.3 million
people out of poverty. Helping low-income workers is long overdue.
Contrary to what my Republican colleagues have been saying, raising
the minimum wage is popular among American workers. That is why voters
in States like California, Arkansas, Arizona, and Missouri have voted
to increase their State minimum wages.
Congress has the opportunity to restore the value of work, lift
families out of poverty, and ensure a fair wage for workers everywhere
in America.
I urge all my colleagues to vote in support of workers and families
by supporting the Raise the Wage Act.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
distinguished gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Rice).
Mr. RICE of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, the Democrats' assault on
rural America continues.
[[Page H7099]]
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that if this minimum wage
law were enacted, up to 3.7 million jobs in America would vanish. And
what areas would lose the most? Obviously, the areas with the most
minimum wage jobs, rural areas.
You see, these areas have a much lower cost of living. You can rent
an apartment for $500 per month, instead of $3,000 per month in San
Francisco, where Nancy Pelosi is from. Food costs are lower, taxes are
lower, utilities are lower, and an American family can have a
comfortable living on half what it takes in San Francisco, Seattle, or
New York.
One size does not fit all. A $15 minimum wage would cost these poor
rural counties thousands of jobs. Even blue State Oregon recognized
this fact when it adopted a tiered minimum wage with one rate for urban
areas, another for suburban, and another for rural.
I represent three poor South Carolina counties, Marion, Dillon, and
Marlboro. These are majority African American and suffered stagnation
over a lost decade following the financial crisis and the stifling
government overreach of the Obama administration.
After tax reform and regulatory reform, these poor counties are
finally recovering. Two years ago, when Donald Trump took office, the
unemployment rate in Marion County was 9.6 percent. Today it is 4.6
percent. What a turnaround.
And yet, even in the face of this, Democrats haven't learned their
lesson and want to return to the days of big government, big regulation
overreach that will hurt these poor rural counties the worst.
Everyone is concerned about income inequality. Here is a suggestion,
to stop complaining and actually do something about it. Let's work
together to fix our broken immigration system.
Hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens cross our southern border
every year. This limitless supply of cheap labor steals from our
children and holds down wages for the hardworking, law-abiding
Americans. The most affected are the most vulnerable at the bottom of
the income ladder, and particularly those in rural areas.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. I yield the gentleman from South Carolina
an additional 30 seconds.
Mr. RICE of South Carolina. Harvard professor George Borjas estimates
that competition from low-skilled immigrants has reduced the American
lower middle-class wages by $800 to $1,500 yearly.
Stop the endless flow of illegal labor and watch wages rise. For
once, let's put the American worker first. For once, let's put America
first.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I remind my colleague that his
vote against this bill is a vote to deny about 41 percent of the
workers in his district in South Carolina a raise of about $3,800 a
year.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms.
Wilson), the chair of the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pension
Subcommittee.
Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter
in support of H.R. 582, the Raise the Wage Act of 2019, from the U.S.
Women's Chamber of Commerce.
U.S. Women's Chamber
of Commerce,
Washington, DC, July 15, 2019.
Letter in Support of H.R. 582, the Raise the Wage Act of 2019
My name is Margot Dorfman and I am the CEO of the U.S.
Women's Chamber of Commerce. I represent women business
owners across America, who support raising the minimum wage.
Introduction
The U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce was founded to support
the continued economic advancement of women in America. The
Women's Chamber has more than 500,000 members--most of them
small business owners. We have members in every state.
The business owners with whom I talk every day believe
that, far from hurting their businesses, raising the minimum
wage in fact helps small businesses, women workers and the
broader economy. Raising the minimum wage reinforces their
business strategies, while an inadequate minimum wage
undermines them.
It is vitally important to understand that the number one
problem I hear from my members is that consumer demand is
still weak. Raising the minimum wage helps directly with that
by putting more money in the pockets of customers who will
spend it at our local businesses.
The migration of women from the workforce into business
ownership has been one of the great economic achievements of
the American dream. As women moved from employees to business
owners, we have brought a new perspective to America's
business leadership. Women now own about 40 percent of all
privately held firms in the United States and are exercising
the decision-making authority that comes with that role to
effect positive changes in the workplace.
My member business owners realize that most of the people
working for low pay across the country--the waitresses, the
health aides and the cashiers--are women. Many of my members
were once employees themselves. They know that raising the
minimum wage helps working women and families in their
struggle to make ends meet. Our members know that a minimum
wage of $7.25 an hour is much too low.
As a matter of fact, large national chains that pay low
wages may actually be competing unfairly with women-owned
small businesses that work hard to assure that their
employees receive fair pay. In short, keeping the minimum
wage low keeps women and families down.
For these reasons and more, the U.S. Women's Chamber of
Commerce supports raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per
hour by 2024 and then indexing it to median hourly wages so
that it doesn't erode again. And we also support gradually
raising the minimum wage for tipped workers until it equals
the regular minimum wage as called for in the Raise the Wage
Act.
Small Businesses Show That Paying Higher Wages Is Economically
Realistic
There are two roads to profitability: the high road and the
low road. Businesses can invest in their workforces with
decent wages and benefits, and enjoy the benefits of a
dedicated workforce with lower turnover, higher productivity
and better customer service. Or businesses can pay poverty
wages and churn through employees. These businesses may save
on immediate payroll, but they experience the significant
expense of higher turnover, constant recruitment and
training, higher absenteeism, and a less experienced, less
productive workforce.
Only one road to profitability delivers us a strong floor
under our economy, a growing middle class, upward mobility
and the promise of the American Dream. The business owners
supported by the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce have chosen
the high road strategy for building their businesses: they
pay better wages and their businesses benefit as a result.
They report to me that this approach attracts more stable,
dependable, productive employees. That's not surprising since
better wages enable workers to concentrate on their job
without continually worrying about how they will put gas in
their cars, pay for day care or keep up with their rent.
At small businesses, the owners and employees work side by
side on a daily basis, working together to offer the best
goods and services to their customers. My members know they
cannot generally compete with the big box stores or the chain
restaurants on price. Instead, their competitive advantage is
higher quality service and a real connection to the community
and its residents.
The reality is that my members and other Main Street
businesses have a lot in common with low-wage workers: both
are being squeezed by big corporations. The low wages that
big retailers and restaurant chains pay are one of many
factors that contributes to their price advantage over small
and local businesses. Indeed, low-paying big chains count on
responsible employers and taxpayers to subsidize them by
providing food stamps and public health assistance to their
workers who can't make ends meet on poverty wages.
Raising the minimum wage to a more realistic level helps
level the playing field for businesses like my members who
believe in treating their workers fairly and investing in the
communities they are rooted in.
Weak Consumer Spending Is Hurting Small Businesses and Raising the
Minimum Wage Can Give It a Boost
My members see the stagnant wages and economic anxiety that
most American families are facing as one of the major factors
weakening the economy a decade after the Great Recession. And
economists recognize that until we restore real wage growth
for working and middle-class Americans, consumer spending
will not be where we need it to be to help businesses thrive
and grow into the future.
Too many people forget that workers are also consumers.
Consumer spending drives 70 percent of our economy, and we
must repower broad-based consumer spending--backed by
adequate wages rather than unaffordable debt--if we are going
to repower our economy, create good jobs and reverse the
decline in our middle class. Raising the minimum wage boosts
the economy from the bottom up, which is exactly what we
need.
That's why local businesses support raising the minimum
wage--because that additional money in the pockets of the
lowest paid workers will be spent immediately in the local
economy. These workers are not taking fancy trips abroad or
speculating on Wall Street. They are spending pay increases
at the grocery store, the pharmacy and the auto-repair in
their communities.
[[Page H7100]]
Raising the Minimum Wage Helps Working Women
Finally, as a representative of women-owned businesses, I
want to emphasize that working women represent the greatest
percentage of workers to benefit from increasing the minimum
wage. The typical low-wage worker is an adult woman. Think of
your waitress at Applebee's, or the cashier who rings you up
at the supermarket. Think of the childcare center worker who
takes care of your son or daughter, or the health aide who
helps your mother or grandfather.
Many of the women business owners who belong to the U.S.
Women's Chamber of Commerce left the workforce to start their
own businesses because they felt that the jobs where women
worked were not being fairly paid. In building their own
companies and becoming employers, they have created working
environments where they try to do better by paying and
playing fairly. That's why women-owned businesses tend to pay
above minimum wage. Women business owners understand and
value security for families.
In sum, a $15 minimum wage by 2024 would offer all of the
benefits that I have outlined: it will help small businesses
like my members by putting more money in the pockets of
workers, which will boost spending and job creation on Main
Street; it will help level the playing field for small
businesses and big businesses; and it will bring fairer pay
to American women, who hold the majority of the low-wage jobs
that will see a raise.
While some try to portray a minimum wage increase as a
fight between business and workers, raising the minimum wage
is in reality good for both.
It is for these reasons that the U.S. Women's Chamber of
Commerce supports the Raise the Wage Act of 2019.
Thank you.
Margot Dorfman,
Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Women's Chamber of
CommerceTM.
Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is amoral that millions of
people in this country are forced to work so hard for so little in
return.
Believe me, Congress knows, because there is a serious bipartisan
movement afoot to provide Members of Congress with a cost-of-living
raise. Congress realizes that they do not earn enough and, hopefully,
they realize that people earning $7.50 an hour are definitely not
earning enough.
So today, I call on CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, to let the American people
know that we are attempting to raise the minimum wage. Herald it from
the loudest bully pulpit you have. Listen to the facts given today by
Chairman Scott and my colleagues and share them.
News outlets all over America, you have a responsibility to let the
American people know that we hear them, we support them, and we
understand. We are doing our very, very best to help them. We are
fighting for them.
Raise the wage, colleagues. Raise the wage today.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. David P. Roe).
Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage
my colleagues to vote against H.R. 582, the so-called Raise the Wage
Act, which is nothing more than another baseless, irrational attack on
President Trump's successful economic record.
Just this week, House Democrats voted to condemn the President, hold
his advisers in contempt, and many House Democrats voted to impeach the
President. Today, they are working to undo the economic gains seen
under the Trump administration's leadership and undermine the best
economy in my lifetime.
This legislation will arbitrarily double the Federal minimum wage to
$15 an hour, despite plenty of evidence that employers are fairly
compensating employees. This bill will hurt the very low-income people
House Democrats claim they want to help by reducing employment
opportunity and hours.
In fact, the CBO estimated that this legislation will cost the
American economy up to 3.7 million jobs and reduce real wages by $9.5
billion.
I offered a bipartisan amendment to prevent this bill from taking
effect unless the GAO could show this legislation would eliminate fewer
than 200,000 jobs in rural America, where I live, but House Democrats
wouldn't even allow a debate.
Just in Tennessee, this bill is predicted to eliminate more than
66,000 jobs, roughly the size of my hometown, which is the largest city
in my district.
In 2016, Seattle's minimum wage increased to $13 an hour, $2 shy of
what the House Democrats are proposing today, and it has already
reduced hours for low-income jobs. If legislation like this is hurting
large areas like Seattle, it will have even a worse impact on rural
America.
I think my colleague across the aisle said the States had raised
this. I think that is a perfect thing, the States ought to. They know
their local economies better than we do here in Washington.
I urge my Democratic colleagues to work with Republicans to implement
policies to give every American the tools to seek higher-paying jobs
and, once again, encourage my colleagues to vote against H.R. 582.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I remind my colleague that his
vote against this bill is a vote to deny about 41 percent of the
workers in his district in Tennessee an average raise of about $3,700 a
year.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina
(Ms. Adams), the chair of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in strong
support of H.R. 582, the Raise the Wage Act.
I have been fighting for working families for 3 decades now, from the
State House in North Carolina, to here in the U.S. House. I led the
successful effort in my State to raise the State's minimum wage in 2006
from $5.15 to $6.15 an hour. Then, in 2009, the Federal Government
raised the wage to $7.25. That was 12 years ago, and the minimum wage
hasn't increased since. Only the cost of living has increased.
Folks working full-time earning the minimum wage aren't making enough
to feed their families, and that is not acceptable. No one working
full-time should live in poverty. Working hard is not enough if you
don't make enough.
That is why I am a proud supporter of H.R. 582, the Raise the Wage
Act. The Raise the Wage Act would increase wages for over 150,000
people in my district in North Carolina. It is not just good for
workers; it is good for the economy.
Unlike the GOP tax cut, which benefited corporations and the wealthy,
this bill will put money in the pockets of hardworking Americans, who
will spend it in the local economy.
My friends on the other side of the aisle will use outdated,
misleading data to say that it will kill jobs. But the most
comprehensive and recent research shows no job loss in cities that have
already raised the wage to $15.
The American people are with us on this. A vast majority support
raising the minimum wage.
You already know folks can't survive on $7.25. We don't have to do
that in Congress. My folks on the other side of the aisle, you are
making six figures. Can you survive on $7.25?
I urge my colleagues, do what is right because it is right. America
needs a raise. Join me in voting for this bill. Give the American
people a long overdue raise.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from 100 economists in
support of the $15 minimum wage.
[From the Economic Policy Institute, Feb. 6, 2019]
Today, workers who earn the federal minimum wage make $7.25
an hour--about 29 percent less per hour than their
counterparts made 50 years ago (after adjusting for
inflation) We can afford to pay the lowest-paid workers in
America substantially more than what their counterparts were
paid a half century ago Workers produce more today from each
hour of work with productivity nearly doubling since the late
1960s.
We, the undersigned, support gradually increasing the
minimum wage to $15 by 2024, and then indexing it to median
wages to protect against future erosion. We also support
gradually phasing out the outdated subminimum wage for tipped
workers, which has been frozen at $2.13 since 1991.
This policy would directly lift the wages of 28.1 million
workers by 2024. Another 11.6 million workers whose wages are
just above the new minimum would likely see a wage increase
through ``spillover'' effects, as employers adjust their
internal wage scales. The vast majority of employees who
would benefit are adults--disproportionately women--in
working families, who work at least 20 hours a week and
depend on their earnings to make ends meet.
A $15 minimum wage by 2024 would result in $121 billion in
higher wages for 39.7 million low-wage workers, which would
also benefit their families and their communities. Since
lower-paid workers spend a large share of their additional
earnings, this injection of wages would modestly stimulate
consumer
[[Page H7101]]
demand, business activity, and job growth. Further, modest
and infrequent minimum wage increases are directly
responsible for growing inequality between the bottom and the
middle class; this minimum wage increase would provide a
significant and much needed boost to the earnings of low-wage
workers. And, because it would be indexed to growth in median
wages, it would ensure that the wage floor keeps up with
growth of middle-wage workers going forward.
The last decade has seen a wealth of rigorous academic
research on the effect of minimum wage increases on
employment, with the weight of evidence showing that previous
modest increases in the minimum wage had little or no
negative effects on the employment of low-wage workers. It is
time to support a bolder increase to address the fact that
wages for workers at the low end of the labor market have
continued to stagnate. Even if the growth of aggregate work
hours for low-wage workers were to slow somewhat, workers who
work less could still break even, or come out ahead, in terms
of annual earnings. Since as many as 10 percent of the
lowest-wage workers leave or start jobs every month, any
decrease in the number of full-time equivalent jobs will mean
that some workers will take more time finding a new job, or
will work fewer hours. But many of these workers may still
see their annual earnings rise because of their wage
increase.
The benefits of gradually phasing in a $15 minimum wage by
2024 would be far-reaching, lifting pay for tens of millions
of workers and helping reverse decades of growing pay
inequality. The benefits of a $15 minimum wage in 2024 for
workers, their families, and their communities far outweigh
the potential costs. Of course, the minimum wage is just one
of many policies designed to help low-wage workers. We
believe that an increase in the minimum wage should be
accompanied by complementary policies such as an expanded
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), enhanced safety net,
increased job training, and policies to generate full
employment.
Sincerely,
Daron Acemoglu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Ph.D.; Jacqueline Agesa, Marshall University, Ph.D.; Alan
Aja, Brooklyn College, CUNY, Ph.D.; Randy Albelda, University
of Massachusetts Boston, Ph.D.; Sylvia A. Allegretto,
University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D.; Bernard E.
Anderson, University of Pennsylvania, Ph.D.; Robert M.
Anderson, University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D.; Eileen
Appelbaum, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Ph.D.;
Michael Ash, University of Massachusetts Amherst Ph.D.;
Algernon Austin, Demos, Ph.D.
Kate Bahn, Washington Center for Equitable Growth, Ph.D.;
Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Ph.D.;
Erdogan Bakir, Bucknell University, Ph.D.; Stephen Baldwin,
Retired, Ph.D.; Nina Banks, Bucknell University, Ph.D.; James
Baron, Yale School of Management, Ph.D.; Lourdes Beneria,
Cornell University, Ph.D.; Jared Bernstein, Ph.D.; Josh
Bivens, Economic Policy Institute, Ph.D.; Sandra Black,
University of Texas at Austin, Ph.D.
Gail Blattenberger, University of Utah, Ph.D.; Robert
Blecker, American University, Ph.D.; Barry Bluestone,
Northeastern University, Ph.D.; Barry Bosworth, Brookings
Institution, Ph.D.; Heather Boushey, Washington Center for
Equitable Growth, Ph.D.; Clair Brown, University of
California, Berkeley, Ph.D. Lawrence Chimerine, Radnor
Consulting, Ph.D.; Robert Coen, Northwestern University,
Ph.D.; Jennifer Cohen, Miami University, Ph.D.; David
Cutler Harvard University, Ph.D.
Sheldon Danziger, Univensty of Michigan, Ph.D.; Angus
Deaton, Princeton University, Ph.D.; Gregory DeFreitas,
Hofstra University, Ph.D.; James Devine, Loyola Marymount
University, Ph.D.; Geert Dhondt, John Jay College, CUNY
Ph.D.; Peter Diamond, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Ph.D.; Adrienne Eaton, Rutgers University Ph.D.; Peter Eaton,
University of Missouri-Kansas City, Ph.D.; John Edgren,
Eastern Michigan University, Ph.D.; Gerald Epstein,
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Ph.D.
Allan Freyer, NC Justice Center, Ph.D.; Teresa Ghilarducci
The New School, Ph.D.; Jeeten Gin, Union College, Ph.D.;
Martin Hart-Landsberg, Lewis and Clark College Ph.D.; Jeff
Hayes, Institute for Women's Policy Research, Ph.D.; Adam
Hersh Former Chief Economist of the Joint Economic Committee,
Ph.D.; Stephen Herzenberg, Keystone Research Center, Ph.D.;
Emily Hoffman, Western Michigan University, Ph.D.; David
Howell, The New School, Ph.D.
Candace Howes, Connecticut College, Ph.D.; Jennifer Hunt,
Rutgers University, Ph.D.; Jeffrey Keefe, Rutgers University,
Ph.D.; Mary C. King Portland State University, Ph.D.; Janet
Knoedler, Bucknell University, Ph.D.; Ebru Kongar, Dickinson
College, Ph.D.; Brent Kramer, City University of New York,
Ph.D.; Haydar Kurban, Howard University, Ph.D.; Paul Leigh,
University of California, Davis, Ph.D.; Henry Levin, Columbia
University, Ph.D.
Oren Levin-Waldman, Metropolitan College of New York,
Ph.D.; Mark Levinson, SEIU, Ph.D.; Frank Levy, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Ph.D.; David B. Lipsky, Cornell
University, Ph.D.; Pamela Loprest, Urban Institute, Ph.D.;
Stephanie Luce, School of Labor and Urban Studies/CUNY,
Ph.D.; Lisa Lynch, Brandeis University Ph.D.; Stanley
Malinowitz, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Ph.D.; Julianne
Malveaux, Economic Education, Ph.D.; Patrick Mason, Florida
State University, Ph.D.
Jordan Matsudaira, Columbia University, Ph.D.; Peter
Matthews, Middlebury College, Ph.D.; Anne Mayhew, University
of Tennessee, Ph.D.; Elaine McCrate, University of Vermont,
Ph.D.; John Miller Wheaton College, Ph.D.; Lawrence Mishel,
Economic Policy Institute, Ph.D.; Monique Morrissey, Economic
Policy Institute, Ph.D.; Philip Moss, University of
Massachusetts, Lowell, Ph.D.; Eshragh Motahar Union College,
Ph.D.; Tracy Mott, University of Denver, Ph.D.
Richard Murnane, Harvard University, Ph.D.; Robert Murphy,
Boston College, Ph.D.; Paulette Olson, Wright State
University, Ph.D.; Rudolph Oswald, Retired, Ph.D.; Spencer
Pack, Connecticut College, Ph.D.; Prasannan Parthasarathi,
Boston College, Ph.D.; Manuel Pastor University of Southern
California, Ph.D.; Mark Paul, New College of Florida, Ph.D.;
Eva Paus, Mount Holyoke College Ph.D.; Kenneth Peres, Retired
Communications Workers of America, Ph.D.
Joseph Persky, University of Illinois at Chicago Ph.D.;
Michael Piore, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D.;
Robert Pollen, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Ph.D.;
Mark Price, Keystone Research Center, Ph.D.; Michael Reich,
University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D.; Rene Rosenbaum,
Michigan State University, Ph.D.; Jesse Rothstein, University
of California, Berkeley, Ph.D.; Daniel Rubinfeld University
of California, Berkeley, Ph.D.; Emmanuel Saez, University of
California, Berkeley, Ph.D.; Isabel Sawhill, Brookings
Institution, Ph.D.
Peter Schaeffer, West Virginia University, Ph.D.; William
Schaniel, University of West Georgia, Ph.D.; Stephen J.
Schmidt, Union College, Ph.D.; John Schmitt, Economic Policy
Institute, Ph.D.; Geoffrey Schneider, Bucknell University,
Ph.D.; Juliet Schor, Boston College, Ph.D.; Robert E Scott
Economic Policy Institute Ph.D.; Heidi Shierholz, Economic
Policy Institute, Ph.D.; Rachel Silbermann, Connecticut
Voices for Children, Ph.D.; Andna Smythe, Howard University,
Ph.D.
Younghwan Song, Union College Ph.D.; Sarah Spell, Ph.D.;
Case Sprenkle, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,
Ph.D.; William E. Spriggs, Howard University and AFL-CIO,
Ph.D.; Marshall Steinbaum, Roosevelt Institute, Ph.D.; James
Stewart, The Pennsylvania State University, Ph.D.; Frank
Stricker, CSU Dominguez Hills, Ph.D.; Kenneth P. Thomas,
University of Missouri-St Louis, Ph.D.; Chris Tilly,
Univeisity of California Los Angeles, Ph.D.
Laura Tyson, University of California Berkeley, Ph.D.;
Johan Uribe, Denison University, Ph.D.; Paula Voos, Rutgers
University, Ph.D.; Richard Walker University of California,
Berkeley, Ph.D.; Robert Wassmer, California State University,
Sacramento, Ph.D.; David Weil, Brandeis University, Ph.D.;
Joann Weiner, The George Washington University Ph.D.;
Jeannette Wicks-Lim, University of Massachusetts, Amherst,
Ph.D.; Charles Wilber, University of Notre Dame, Ph.D.; Sarah
Wilhelm, Ph.D.; Robert B. Williams, Guilford College, Ph.D.;
Valerie Wilson, Economic Policy Institute, Ph.D.; Yavuz
Yasar, University of Denver, Ph.D.; Alexandria Zhang, Ph.D.;
Ben Zipperer, Economic Policy Institute, Ph.D.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as
I may consume.
I do agree with one thing one of our colleagues across the aisle said
a few minutes ago. We do need to let the American people know what this
House is about to do; kill millions of jobs.
The CBO's estimate was that 1.3 million jobs would be lost, minimum.
Of those jobs lost, 60 percent would be female workers, 46 percent
would be young workers, and 38 percent would have less than a high
school diploma. These are the people that our colleagues claim they
care about.
However, what they want to do here today is harm those very people.
So I think it is important that we let the American people understand
what this legislation does.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Michigan
(Mr. Walberg).
Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 582,
better known as the Raising Unemployment for American Workers Act.
The bill's desired outcome may be well-intentioned, and you will hear
hypothetical numbers from my good friend and chairman of the committee,
assuming jobs are kept, which they won't be.
{time} 0945
In reality, it causes harm to the very people it is supposed to help.
Just ask the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
According to a CBO analysis of this legislation, it could eliminate
up to 3.7 million jobs with a minimum wage increase, but the loss of
3.7 million jobs, and reduce family income by $9 billion.
Low-income workers without a high school degree would be hit the
hardest.
[[Page H7102]]
We have seen the real-world consequences of a $15 minimum wage in
cities like Seattle. It resulted in small businesses cutting jobs and
workers receiving fewer hours and overall take-home pay.
Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, there is a better way to
boost income for hardworking families. Let's focus on policies that
keep our economy thriving and create more opportunities for all
Americans to find good-paying, living-wage jobs that allow advancements
as well, not just minimum wage.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I remind my colleague that his
vote against this bill is a vote to deny about 32 percent of the
workers in his district in Michigan an average raise of about $2,300 a
year. And in the CBO report that he cited, three of the most recent
studies cited in that report show an actual increase in jobs, not a
decrease.
I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Jayapal),
the co-chair of the Progressive Caucus, a gentlewoman who can talk
specifically about Seattle.
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, this is a big day. Today we pass the first
minimum wage increase for workers in decades.
And, yes, I am proud to represent Seattle, a leader in the Fight for
$15, where I served on the committee that actually drafted the
legislation that passed, ultimately.
It has been 4 years since Seattle raised the wage, and I want to tell
my colleagues across the aisle what the effect of that increase has
been.
Seattle is flourishing. Today we have one of the lowest unemployment
rates in the country, and jobs are growing steadily.
Last year, Forbes ranked Seattle the number one best place for
business and careers in 2018, and despite the doom and gloom
predictions from the National Restaurant Association when we passed the
bill, what we have seen is what The Seattle Times called ``a crazy
restaurant boom''--that is a quote--with new jobs created every year.
The most recent and credible research shows that wages for Seattle's
low-wage workers went up without any negative impact on employment, and
local food prices remained constant so that families could better
afford to buy healthy food.
When we increased the minimum wage in Seattle, Mr. Speaker, we got
strong businesses, healthy families, and flourishing communities. All
American workers deserve the same thing. Let's raise the wage today.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a second letter from the
National Employment Law Project in support of this legislation.
July 16, 2019.
The undersigned organizations enthusiastically support the
Raise the Wage Act of 2019, introduced by Senators Bernie
Sanders (VT) and Patty Murray (WA), Representatives Robert C.
``Bobby'' Scott (VA), Mark Paean (WI) and Stephanie Murphy
(FL).
If enacted, this legislation would:
Gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour in
2025;
After 2025, adjust the minimum wage each year to keep pace
with growth in the typical worker's wages;
Phase out the outdated subminimum wage for tipped workers,
which has been frozen at a meager $2.13 since 1991; and,
Sunset the much criticized ability of employers to pay
workers with disabilities a subminimum wage through
certificates issued by DOL.
Phase out the subminimum wage for workers under the age of
20.
At a time when wage stagnation and income inequality pose
serious threats to our families and our economy, the Raise
the Wage Act of 2019 will begin to reverse that cycle and
raise pay broadly across the bottom of the workforce.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, this Act will
deliver long-overdue raises to more than 1 in 4 workers, 90%
of whom are over the age of 20. The average age of workers
who would get a raise is 35, nearly half have some years of
college education. In fact, those who work year-round would
see a raise in the order of $3,000 a year, which is enough to
make a tremendous difference in the life of a preschool
teacher, bank teller, or fast-food worker who today struggles
to get by on around $20,000 per year.
28 percent are working parents with children, and half have
family incomes of less than $40,000 per year. Women make up
nearly 58 percent of the workers who would benefit from a $15
minimum wage, which would be instrumental in helping to close
the gender-wage-gap. Raising the minimum wage to $15 would
also significantly benefit workers of color, with 38 percent
of African American workers and 33 percent of Latinos seeing
a pay increase once this law goes into effect.
These are the frontline workers who make America run-yet
due to the erosion of the real value of the minimum wage over
the last half century, they are struggling even as our
economy enjoys a solid recovery.
The time for the Raise the Wage Act is long overdue, and we
cannot delay in working toward its passage. We call on
Congress to enact this important piece of legislation as
quickly as possible, and for President Trump to sign it when
it comes to his desk.
Sincerely,
Jackson State University; Jewish Women International; Jobs
with Justice; Just Harvest: A Center for Action Against
Hunger; Justice and Advocacy Committee of the Lehigh
Conference of Churches; Justice for Migrant Women; Kalamazoo
Loaves & Fishes; Kansas Association of Community Action
Programs; Kentucky Equal Justice Center; Kentucky State AFL-
CIO; Keystone Progress; Keystone Research Center; Kings Local
Food Pantry; Korean Resource Center; KWH Law Center for
Social Justice and Change.
La Frontera Ministries; La Plata County Thrive! Living Wage
Coalition; Labor Education Program, School of Labor and
Employment Relations, University of Illinois; Lamoille Family
Center; Law Foundation of Silicon Valley; Law Students in
Court; Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law;
Leadership Conference of Women Religious; The Leadership
Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Leadership Team,
Sisters of the Presentations; Legal Aid at Work; Legal Aid
Service of Broward County; Legal Momentum: The Women's Legal
Defense and Education Fund; Legal Voice; Let Justice Roll:
Living Wage Campaign.
Lincoln Hills Development Corporation; LiveWell Colorado;
Long Beach Gray Panthers; Los Angeles Alliance for a New
Economy; Louisiana Budget Project; Louisiana Progress Action;
Main Street Alliance; Maine Coalition to End Domestic
Violence; Maine Women's Lobby; Mainers for Accountable
Leadership; Make the Road PA; Maryland Center on Economic
Policy; Maryland Hunger Solutions; Maryland National
Organization for Women; Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.
Maternal and Child Health Access; MCCC/MTA; Men of All
Colors Together (MACT)/Phila.; Mercyhaven Inc.; Methodist
Federation for Social Action; Metro-Detroit Chapter of the
Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW); Metropolitan Community
Church of Washington, D.C.; Metropolitan Washington
Employment Lawyers Association; Michigan League for Public
Policy; Michigan's Children; Middlesex Coalition for
Children; Milwaukee Area Service & Hospitality Workers
Organization; Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless;
Mississippi Families for Kids; Mississippi Low Income Child
Care Initiative.
Missouri CLUW Chapter; MomsRising; Mountain State Justice;
MWC, AFL-CIO; NAACP;
NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina; Nashua Soup Kitchen and
Shelter; National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good
Shepherd; National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum
(NAPAWF); National Association of Social Workers; National
Association of Social Workers--NJ Chapter; National
Association of Social Workers Connecticut Chapter; National
Association of Social Workers, West Virginia Chapter;
National Association of the Deaf; National Black Justice
Coalition.
National Black Sisters' Conference; National Center for
Lesbian Rights; National Center for Transgender Equality;
National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence; National
Coalition for the Homeless; National Consumers League;
National Council of Churches; National Council of Jewish
Women; National Council of Jewish Women--PA; National Council
of Jewish Women--Texas; National Council of Jewish Women--
Florida; National Disability Rights Network; National
Domestic Workers Alliance; National Education Association;
National Employment Law Project.
National Employment Lawyers Association; National
Employment Lawyers Association--Eastern Pennsylvania National
Employment Lawyers Association--Georgia Affiliate National
Employment Lawyers Association--New York; National Equality
Action Team (NEAT); National Health Care for the Homeless
Council; National Human Services Assembly; National
Immigration Law Center; National Korean American Service &
Education Consortium (NAKASEC} National LGBTQ Task Force
Action Fund; National Low Income Housing Coalition; National
Partnership for Women & Families; National Resource Center on
Domestic Violence; National Rural Social Work Caucus;
National Urban League.
National Women's Law Center; National Working Positive
Coalition; National Workrights Institute; NC Justice Center;
NC State AFL-CIO; Nebraska Appleseed; Nebraska Chapter of the
National Association of Social Workers Neighbors Helping
Neighbors Teton County MT; NELA Hawaii Chapter; NELA--Kansas
City Affiliate; NELA--Saint Louis; NELA--Alabama; Nenana
Tortella Council on Aging, INC; Network for Environmental &
Economic Responsibility; NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social
Justice.
New Jersey Policy Perspective; New Jersey State Coalition
of Labor Union Women; New Jersey Tenants Organization; New
Mexico Association of Community Partners (NMACP); New Mexico
Black Caucus; New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty; New
Orleans Associates of the Sisters of the Blessed
[[Page H7103]]
Sacrament; New Voices for Reproductive Justice; New York Paid
Leave Coalition; North American Climate, Conservation and
Environment(NACCE); North Carolina Alliance for Retired
Americans; North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic
Violence; North Carolina Council of Churches; North Dakota
Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers; North
Dakota Economic Security and Prosperity Alliance.
Northwest Indiana Community Action; Northwest Pilot
Project; Oakland Park Democratic Club; Oakland Symphony;
Oasis Legal Services; Ohaha Family Foundation; Ohio Coalition
of Labor Union Women; Ohio Domestic Violence Network;
Oklahoma Policy Institute; Oklahoma Women's Coalition; One
Pennsylvania; One Stop Career Center of PR Inc; Orange County
Poverty Alleviation Coalition; Organize Florida; OURNOVA.
Oxfam America; Pathways PA; Patriotic Millionaires; Pax
Christi Florida; Pax Christi Illinois; Pax Christi USA;
Peace, Justice, Sustainability Florida; Pennsylvania Budget
and Policy Center; Pennsylvania Council of Churches;
Pennsylvania Together; People Demanding Action; People's
Institute for Housing Justice; Philadelphia Coalition of
Labor Union Women; Philly Neighborhood Networks; Piedmont
Housing Alliance.
Planet Earth; Policy Matters Ohio; Poor Peoples Economic
Human Rights Campaign; Positive Women's Network-USA; PowHer
New York; Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); Pride at Work;
Princeton Community Housing; Professional Child Care Provider
Network of Prince George's Co., Inc; Project Bread-The Walk
for Hunger; Promise The Children; Provincial Council Clerics
of St. Viator (Viatorians); Public Advocacy for Kids; Public
Citizen; Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY);
Public Justice Center.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, as our colleagues have
noted, States and localities may enact higher minimum wages than the
Federal minimum wage, and there are examples of that. But let's leave
freedom in the hands of the people, in the hands of the States. That is
what this country is all about.
In socialist regimes, all decisions are made by a small group of
people at a central government. That is not the American way.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Kelly).
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from
North Carolina for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I think dates matter and I think votes matter, and I
think that sometimes because of where we are, this is kind of this
Potomac amnesia.
We say we want to raise people's wages, we want to create jobs, we
want to be able to do things that lift every single boat because that
is what a rising tide does. It is not a Democrat tide; it is not a
Republican tide; it is a rising tide for the American people.
I would just want to remind my colleagues, in December of 2017, not
one of you was on board with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. You could not
vote for it in the House; you could not vote for it in the Senate.
And we come here today and we talk about minimum wage and raising
minimum wages, and I would just suggest to you that America is not
about minimals. Nobody comes to America because I may get a minimum
wage increase. They come to America because of maximum opportunity.
Why would we dwell on a minimum wage when you had the chance in
December of 2017 to lift all boats?
Why would we turn our back on an opportunity to completely change the
economy of the United States?
Why would we turn our back on workers who had not been employed for
many years, and we sit today with millions of open jobs and we don't
have enough workers to fill them?
And what are we talking about today? We are trying to right a wrong.
We are trying to fix, somehow, a wrongheaded decision to vote against
the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
And a lot of it had to do with not because we were Republicans, but
because we have somebody in the White House that we just don't like;
and, my God, if we do something that lifts the hopes of all Americans
and the wishes of all Americans and Donald Trump gets credit for it,
that just won't work in 2020.
I would ask my friends on the other side, if you really want to see
America soar, stop putting roadblocks in the way. Stop standing in the
way of hardworking American taxpayers who couldn't care less what your
political affiliation is but watch the legislation that you pass and,
more importantly, the legislation that you passed on.
I would just remind you--and I know you are going to tell me the
average wages in Pennsylvania--those wages are only available if you
get hired.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their
remarks to the Chair.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, as the gentleman has suggested,
his vote against the bill is a vote to deny about 43 percent of the
workers in his district in Pennsylvania an average raise of $3,900 a
year, while the tax bill that he supported, 80 percent of the benefits
of that bill went to the top 1 percent and corporations.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr.
Hoyer), the House majority leader.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
I like the gentleman from Pennsylvania. He and I are friends. We
disagree.
I proudly voted against the tax bill which, I think, spiked the
deficit, and we had a continuation of the extraordinary growth of jobs
and the economy under the Obama administration, and that has continued
in a straight line. It didn't spike up--straight line.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Raise the Wage Act. This
is direct--not indirect, not trickle down, direct--saying to some of
the people who worked hardest and make the least: We are going to help.
We think what you do is valuable to our community and to our society.
We need to make certain that wages keep pace with the cost of living.
We haven't done that. For 10 years, we haven't given a raise.
We need to value the labor that our people contribute into the
economy. That is why we have a Federal minimum wage, to ensure that
everyone who works hard, full time, ought to be able to afford, not
simply to get by, but to try to get ahead.
I have heard from many in my district who have told me that
increasing the minimum wage will have a major impact on their incomes
and their lives.
Dana Hudson from Owings in Calvert County, Maryland, makes the
minimum wage of $10.10 an hour and supplements his income with farming
on his land. He is 60 years old and looking ahead to retirement,
knowing that a higher minimum wage in his final years of working will
go a long way towards giving him and his wife retirement security.
Delano Alexander of Clinton, Maryland, is an environmental services
aide at Prince George's Hospital Center. He earns $12.85 an hour,
presently, and if we pass this bill, he will get an income boost
through the years to help him and his family get ahead.
Victor Reyes of Berwyn Heights, Maryland, started his career as a
nonunion day laborer barely making a living. Now he has a union
construction job, and he is earning better pay. He wrote to ask me to
support a higher minimum wage so that others who are working with him
and haven't found better jobs can get the same economic security he now
has.
We referred to 27 million, 33 million--whatever that number is
between 27 and 33--are going to get a raise by this bill. That didn't
happen in the tax bill. Some of the richest people in America got a
huge increase, but not the average working guy and gal.
In June, we marked 10 years since the last minimum wage increase went
into effect, the longest period without an increase since the minimum
wage was first introduced under Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal.
I was proud to bring legislation to the floor in 2007 to raise the
minimum wage the last time Congress did so, and I am proud to do it
again today. This is long overdue, something the previous Republican
majority should have made a priority but failed to accomplish.
Today, low-income workers in our economy are getting a bad deal with
a minimum wage that doesn't even allow many workers to get by, let
alone get ahead working 40 hours a week and living in poverty. That is
not a successful American economy, because 10 years have passed without
an increase.
Workers stuck earning the current minimum wage of just $7.25 an hour
have effectively received a 17 percent pay cut over the last 10 years.
That is why the House will vote today on the Raise the Wage Act, which
will gradually raise the Federal minimum wage
[[Page H7104]]
to $15 an hour by 2025, 6 years from now.
This bill also eliminates the subminimum wage for those with
disabilities, which will ensure their equal pay and the ability to live
with independence.
Many States and municipalities have already raised their minimum
wages to this level, and it has not caused the dire consequences that
some on the other side of the aisle have predicted. My home State of
Maryland took action earlier this year to raise the minimum wage to $15
an hour. I am proud of that fact.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has determined that
raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would lift 1.3 million
Americans directly out of poverty.
Isn't that a good thing to do? Doesn't that make you feel better that
we are helping to lift people out of poverty?
And the Economic Policy Institute says that doing so would cause
wages to go up for 33 million Americans. That is good for them.
What I suggest is, well, it is good for our economy and it is good
for all of us, because it will help grow the economy, make folks more
independent, and make them feel better about themselves and about what
they are doing.
We campaigned on a promise to raise wages and make sure that American
workers can access all the opportunities that make the American Dream
possible. That is what we are doing today.
I thank Chairman Bobby Scott and Democrats on the Committee on
Education and Labor for their hard work on this legislation.
We said we were going to raise the wage. Today we are going to raise
the wage. It is the right thing to do. I urge every Member to support
it.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, Speaker Pelosi promised that
a $15 minimum wage hike would be passed by the House in the first 100
hours of this Congress, so it is not surprising that 7 months later the
Rules Committee accepted a manager's amendment to add a modest amount
of extra time for small businesses to feel the full effect of this
bill.
Also, our colleague has said that this will lift 1.3 million people
out of poverty, but it is also going to knock 3.7 million people out of
jobs. So, let's keep it all in perspective.
I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen).
Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, I think it is laughable for anybody in this
House to say that the government is going to raise your wages. The
government doesn't raise wages. What the government does is provide an
environment for businesses to raise wages, and that is where the
decision should be.
And it is laughable to me that Members of Congress actually believe
that they are going to raise the wages of people in this country by
this legislation. The Congressional Budget Office recently released a
report saying that almost 4 million jobs could be lost if this
legislation were implemented.
I remind my colleagues that we had an 8-year war on business, and,
guess what. In 2016, we said that war is over. America is open for
business.
{time} 1000
With Georgia being the number one State to do business in for the
past 6 years, this damaging Federal mandate would reverse all of the
great work our State has done to grow jobs and the economy.
And I am telling you, we are getting it done in Georgia, but I don't
want Maryland to determine what Georgia is going to do and I don't want
Seattle to determine what Georgia is going to do.
As a businessman, I know that our economy is all about supply and
demand, and with more job openings, then job seekers' wages are going
to go up. You have to pay more to keep talent. It is supply and demand,
folks.
In fact, in 2018, wages and salaries saw the largest increase in more
than a decade, thanks to the economic environment led by a Republican-
led Congress and President Trump that has spurred economic growth and
prosperity.
The last thing we need are more one-size-fits-all Washington mandates
that lead to job cuts, cut workers' hours for automation, and
ultimately shut the doors of our Nation's small businesses.
Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on this legislation.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I remind my colleague that his
vote against this bill is a vote to deny 41 percent of the workers in
his district in Georgia an average raise of about $3,800 a year, and I
don't think they are laughing about that.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr.
Pocan), the co-chair of the Progressive Caucus.
Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Scott for yielding.
I do find it interesting to sit and listen to a debate today where
people who make $174,000 a year and half of which are millionaires are
telling people they should be satisfied trying to exist on $15,000 a
year, which is the very reason we are here today: to try to raise the
wage for 33 million people, a quarter of the workforce in this country.
No family in the United States can live on $7.25 an hour and make
ends meet.
In my home State of Wisconsin, you would have to work 93 hours a week
at minimum wage in order to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment, and
there is not a single county in the country where a worker earning the
minimum wage for 40 hours a week can afford a two-bedroom apartment.
I come to Congress with 3 decades as a small businessowner. Small
business owners know our workers are our customers, our neighbors, and
our community members.
When workers have more money in their pockets, they have more money
to spend to care for their families and stimulate our economy.
This is especially true in rural areas, where workers have only a
handful of employment options. If the primary employer in a rural town
is a multibillion-dollar corporation like Walmart, they can afford to
pay their workers $15 an hour instead of holding down wages for the
entire community.
Congress recently set a new record for the longest stretch in U.S.
history without a hike in the minimum wage: 10 years. It is long past
due that we show workers respect by putting more money in their pockets
and support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from the United Food
and Commercial Workers.
UFCW,
Washington, DC, July 15, 2019.
To All Members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Dear Representative: On behalf of the United Food and
Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) which
represents more than 1.3 million hard-working Americans in
food and non-food retail, pharmacy, food processing, and
manufacturing, I urge you to vote for the Raise the Wage Act
(H.R. 582) and vote against any amendments that would weaken
the bill. UFCW will be scoring this vote.
The Raise the Wage Act will raise the federal minimum wage
from $7.25 to $8.55 this year and gradually increase it over
the next five years until it reaches $15 an hour in 2024.
After 2024, the minimum wage will be indexed so that it
continues to rise along with a typical workers wage. The
Raise the Wage Act will also end unfair exclusions for tipped
workers, people with disabilities, and youth so that they,
too, can benefit from a decent minimum wage.
Raising the minimum wage will be good for the economy and
stimulate consumer spending. Today's low-wage workers earn
less per hour than their counterparts did 50 years ago but
productivity has nearly doubled in that time. If the minimum
wage had been raised at the same pace as productivity growth,
it would be over $20 an hour today. Increasing the minimum
wage would generate $144 billion in additional wages and most
of those extra earnings would be spent in grocery stores and
other main street businesses because lower-paid workers spend
a greater proportion of their earnings.
The Raise the Wage Act would deliver long-overdue raises to
a large segment of the workforce. Gradually raising the
federal minimum wage to $15 by 2024 would lift pay for nearly
40 million workers--26.6 percent of the U.S. workforce. A $15
minimum wage would begin to reverse decades of pay inequality
between the lowest-paid workers and the middle class.
Raising the minimum wage would significantly benefit
workers of color and women. Nearly two-fifths (38 percent) of
African Americans and one-third (33 percent) of Latinos would
get a raise and 56 percent of women workers would benefit.
Across the country, there is overwhelming momentum in favor
of raising wages for our nation's lowest-wage workers. Since
2014, twenty-one states, plus D.C., have approved minimum
wage increases. California, Massachusetts, New York, and the
District of Columbia have approved raising their minimum
wages to $15 an hour and Washington, Oregon, Colorado,
Arizona, Missouri, Michigan, and Maine have approved minimum
wages ranging from $12 to $14.75 an hour.
[[Page H7105]]
UFCW opposes a regional minimum wage. Regional minimum
wages bake-in low wages to already low-wage places. Rural
counties and Southern cities where wages have been depressed
for a variety of social, political, and economic reasons
would effectively have their low-wage status locked in. The
power of the minimum wage to boost worker incomes, and thus
consumer buying power, would be legislatively kneecapped for
the areas that could most use a boost in local consumer
demand.
Raising the minimum wage is long overdue. I call on every
member of Congress to vote for the Raise the Wage Act and
enact this import piece of legislation as quickly as
possible.
Sincerely,
Ademola Oyefeso,
International Vice President, Director,
Legislative and Political Action Department.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Byrne).
Mr. BYRNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 582.
This bill would cause disruptive job losses and harm entry-level
workers in many regions around the country, effectively knocking the
bottom rung off the career ladder and especially hurting young workers.
Last Monday, CBO issued a long-awaited study, which estimates that up
to 3.7 million jobs would be lost from a $15 minimum wage, with a
median estimate of 1.3 million jobs lost. That includes 44,000 jobs
that would be lost in my home State of Alabama, and those under 21 will
suffer half those job losses.
When comparing those numbers with the report's estimate that only 1.3
million individuals would be lifted out of poverty, H.R. 582 would cost
at least one job to be lost for every person who moved out of poverty.
In the CBO's high-impact scenario, as many as three jobs would be lost
for every individual moving out of poverty.
This is not a tradeoff that Congress should ask America's workers and
small businesses to make, and I especially don't think we should ask
our young workers to make it.
Significantly, CBO has also found there would be a reduction in real
family income by 2025 of $9 billion, effectively reducing pay for many
American families.
Remember, wages are currently on the rise thanks to a booming
economy, the Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and President Trump's
focus on eliminating wasteful regulations.
With 7.3 million unfilled jobs nationwide, job creators know they
must offer competitive wages and benefits to attract and retain
workers, and 29 States already have a minimum wage higher than the
Federal floor.
Instead of providing tangible benefits to working class Americans,
H.R. 582 would cause the most harm to the very people its supporters
claim to help.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I remind my colleague that his
vote against this bill is a vote to deny about 37 percent of the
workers in his district in Alabama an average wage of about $3,700 a
year.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.
Norcross), a distinguished member of the Committee on Education and
Labor.
Mr. NORCROSS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Scott for making sure that we
finally, after 11 years, will have a vote to raise the minimum wage.
This is America. You play by the rules, you work hard, you are
supposed to be able to make it, but that is not the way it is.
Less than 2 years ago, our colleagues on the other side of the aisle
made sure that the top 1 percent got their raise, as they are stepping
on the American worker.
Today is the day that we set the record straight and give
opportunities to those who need it the most.
Henry Ford said it: Make sure you pay your employees enough money so
they can buy your product and services.
That is the true case of what is going on here today. You give a
raise to the people who need it the most to survive, not to invest
overseas or in a shore home. They will spend it right in their
neighborhood going to the supermarket and drugstore.
They shouldn't have to make the decision whether or not to put
clothes on their kids' backs or to feed them, but that is what is going
on today.
Those in the top 1 percent got their raise. It is time that those who
work hard and have the dignity of a job get their raise.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from the United Steel
Workers.
United Steelworkers,
Pittsburgh, PA, July 15, 2019.
Re United Steelworkers support H.R. 582, the Raise the Wage
Act.
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Representative: On behalf of the 850,000 members of
the United Steelworkers (USW), I urge you to stand with
workers and support the Raise the Wage Act (H.R. 582).
In the 10 years since Congress last took action, the
federal minimum wage has remained stagnant, eroding the
earnings and purchasing power for millions of American wage
workers and their families. According to the Economic Policy
Institute, the current federal minimum wage is worth 17
percent less than it was 10 years ago, down a staggering 31
percent from its peak value in 1968. It is clear that this
stagnation has resulted in a cut in real wages for those
workers who can least afford it.
While 29 states and the District of Columbia have taken
action to raise their wage floors, the failure of federal
action on the minimum wage means roughly 40 percent of
Americans and their communities have seen continued wage
stagnation.
It is past time for America to address the growing needs of
low-wage workers and low-income families and raise the
federal minimum wage. Under the Raise the Wage Act (H.R.
582), the value of the federal minimum wage would be restored
by incrementally raising the nation's wage floor to $15.00 an
hour by 2024 and indexing it to inflation. The legislation
would also eliminate the subminimum wages currently in effect
for tipped workers and workers with disabilities, ensuring
that all groups have access to consistent wages.
Everyone benefits when the floor is raised. According to
the Congressional Budget Office, raising the wage to $15.00
an hour would boost the earnings of 27 million workers and
their families, lifting some of America's neediest families
out of poverty. Through this wage increase, the Raise the
Wage Act (H.R. 582) will not only help low-wage workers to
meet their basic needs, but it will increase workers'
purchasing power, helping to stimulate and grow America's
economy.
All workers deserve to make a livable wage. Combined with
critically needed labor law reforms, this legislation will
serve as an important step to empowering workers. USW urges
you to give America's lowest paid workers a raise and enact
the Raise the Wage Act (H.R. 582).
Sincerely,
Thomas M. Conway,
International President.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, our colleagues say all the
time that we need to help the people at the bottom of the ladder.
Those are exactly the people who are being helped by the Republican
policies that were enacted in the first 2 years of this administration.
We are seeing people at the bottom get the highest percentage increase.
So that is already being done, and it is because of regulations being
reduced and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Smucker).
Mr. SMUCKER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
When I was a teenager, at 14 years old, one of my first jobs was
serving as a dishwasher at Smoketown family restaurant. I had no
previous work experience, but the owner took a chance on me. I
certainly didn't receive a great wage, but it was a starting point, and
the lessons that I learned in that job were lessons that I used during
my entire career.
I went on after high school to buy a small construction company,
operated it for 25 years, creating family-sustaining jobs for hundreds
of individuals.
Today, my 16-year-old son serves food in a skilled nursing center
after school at a wage of $9 an hour. He is very thrilled with that;
again, learning the skills, the people skills, needed, learning to show
up for work on time, learning to work hard.
In fact, one of the best indicators of success in a career is whether
or not you had a job during high school.
This bill, unfortunately, would rob many of the opportunity to hold
that first job. CBO specifically said 3.7 million jobs will be lost as
a result of this bill.
Our friends on the other side of the aisle are not talking about that
aspect of the bill.
There is no question here about the desire to see every individual
that we represent have the opportunity to live the American Dream: the
idea the previous speaker just said, the idea that
[[Page H7106]]
you can work hard, play by the rules, and you can live your dream.
The question is the prescription, and it is a fundamental choice. It
is a choice of believing in our free enterprise system, believing in
our economic system that has created more opportunity than ever before
in the history of the world, or believing in more government control.
Today, someone can apply at the construction company that I operated
for many years----
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 20
seconds to the gentleman.
Mr. SMUCKER. Today, someone can apply at that company and have no
experience and start at $16 an hour. That wasn't a government
prescription. That is the free enterprise system at work.
I am very, very proud, as the result of the work that we have done
over the last 2 years, the tax reform act, for the first time, we are
seeing wages rise.
Again, it is not as a result of a bill like this, which would have
exactly the opposite effect on that ability to achieve upward mobility.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I remind my colleague that his
vote against the bill is a vote to deny about 34 percent of the workers
in his district in Pennsylvania an average raise of $3,200, and that,
in fact, wages for low-income workers have been going up, but only
because States and localities have been increasing the minimum wage,
just like this bill does.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr.
Levin), the vice chair of the Education and Labor Committee.
Mr. LEVIN of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter
to all Members of the House from the AFL-CIO.
AFL-CIO,
July 12, 2019.
Dear Representative: On behalf of the AFL-CIO, I am writing
to urge you to vote for the ``Raise the Wage Act of 2019''
(H.R. 582) scheduled for floor consideration this week. This
legislation would gradually raise the federal minimum wage to
$15 an hour by the year 2024. In addition to indexing future
increases to the growth in the median wage, the bill would
gradually eliminate the subminimum wage for tipped workers,
which has been stuck at $2.13 since 1991.
Because Congress has not raised the minimum wage in more
than 10 years, millions of our Nation's full time workers
live in poverty. If the minimum wage had risen at the same
pace as productivity growth since 1969, it would be over $20
an hour today.
Phasing in a $15 minimum wage would benefit 41 million
workers and begin to address the growing crisis of wage
inequality. More than half of the workers who would benefit
are adults between the ages of 25 and 54, and nearly two-
thirds work full time. More than half (56 percent) are women,
nearly 30 percent of whom have children.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, by 2024 a
single adult without children will need at least $31,200 ($15
per hour on an annual basis) to achieve an adequate standard
of living in all parts of the country. Allowing for a lower
regional minimum wage, as some have suggested, would lock
millions of workers into poverty, and would be especially
harmful to people of color and women who would benefit most
from a minimum wage increase.
Multiple studies have shown that modest increases in the
minimum wage have not resulted in significant job loss, and
the income boost experienced by low-income families benefits
the country overall by reducing both poverty and income
inequality.
Raising the minimum wage to $15 has the support of an
overwhelming majority of Americans, and the benefits far
exceed any potential cost. Once again, we urge you to vote
YES on the Raise the Wage Act and NO on any weakening
amendments. In addition, since any Motion to Recommit would
be the equivalent of voting against the Raise the Wage Act,
we urge you to vote no on the MTR.
Sincerely,
William Samuel,
Govemment Affairs Department.
Mr. LEVIN of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Bobby
Scott for his incredible leadership on this bill, and I rise in strong
support of the Raise the Wage Act.
Mr. Speaker, I would remind the previous speaker and the gentleman
from Georgia (Mr. Allen) that we are proposing precisely zero more
regulation than exists. In fact, the Federal Government has set a
minimum wage in this country since 1938, all the great growth years of
this economy. We are just saying that the rate should be sensible.
I came to Washington to raise the standard of living for working
people in Michigan's Ninth District and all across this country, and
that is exactly what this bill does.
Working a full-time job should guarantee that you can provide for
your family, and a $7.25-an-hour minimum wage doesn't cut it,
especially while worker productivity has increased exponentially, and
executive salaries have skyrocketed.
The gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) said the CBO score
said a minimum of 1.3 million jobs would be lost. I want to correct the
record. They said a minimum of zero would be. The median projection is
that 1.3 million might be.
Mr. Speaker, I want to remind all of my colleagues that in 2018, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics said that 7,769,000 American workers were
working multiple jobs because one job didn't cut it, it didn't pay
enough for them. And that is almost certainly an undercount, according
to all experts.
If just one in five of those people being forced to work multiple
jobs could quit their second and third job because one job paid enough,
that would take care of 1.6 million jobs we wouldn't need, because
workers were being paid a living wage.
We have waited more than 10 years to give American families a raise.
And I can tell you that the people of Michigan's Ninth District, where
about 104,800 people would get a raise under this bill, have waited
long enough.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this historic
legislation.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the distinguished Speaker of
the United States House of Representatives.
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank
him for his extraordinary leadership, historic, really, for giving us
this opportunity today to do something very special for the American
people, for America's working families.
This is an historic day, yes, because we are raising the minimum wage
here in the House of Representatives, because we are channeling the
energy of so many people across the country for fairness in the
workplace, but it also happens to be the 171st anniversary of the
Seneca Falls Convention.
The Seneca Falls Convention shook the world, when they had that
convention, with the simple proclamation that all men and women are
created equal.
This bill achieves that equality, giving nearly 20 million working
women, that is nearly one-third of all working women, a raise. And it
helps narrow the gender wage gap that disproportionately targets women
of color, putting more money in the pockets of more than one-third of
working women of color.
{time} 1015
Today, we wake up for a day of jubilation because of the sense of
fairness that this legislation engenders. We wake up every morning with
a smile on our face, showing the world all the love in our hearts, and
that love in our hearts is about fairness for the American people.
It is interesting to note, Mr. Speaker, as has been acknowledged--as
I just heard Congressman Levin mention, and others, as well--that it
has been 10 years since the Federal minimum wage was raised in the
previous Democratic majority. It had been 11 years before then, when we
passed it in 2007, and it was signed by President Bush.
It was bipartisan, and we were thrilled about that.
It is interesting to see what has happened in the time since then.
While families work hard to make ends meet, the cost of living has
surged to unsustainable highs. Inflation has eaten nearly 20 percent of
their wages, and the GOP special interest agenda has left them far
behind.
I mentioned that this is about equality for women. It is also about
30 million people in our country getting a raise--30 million people--
and so many people being lifted out of poverty.
I talked about 2007. That is when we first passed it in the House. It
took a little more time for it to be law, going through the Senate and
the rest.
When we passed it, we were so thrilled, knowing that the President
[[Page H7107]]
would sign it. We had a big rally outside the Capitol. As soon as the
rally was finished, Senator Ted Kennedy, who had been a really
important part of the Senate action on raising the minimum wage, said:
``You know what we have to do now? We have to raise the minimum wage!''
We always have to be injecting fairness, all the time. We must never
stop fighting to honor the dignity of work and pushing forward for
working families and women, again, affected so drastically in all of
this.
American workers deserve a raise. No one can live with dignity on a
$7.25 per hour wage. Can you?
The Raise the Wage Act honors workers and supports families, giving
33 million Americans a long-overdue raise and lifting many out of
poverty.
The bill grows our economy, increasing families' purchasing power,
which drives economic growth that lifts up all communities. The
consumer confidence of America's working families is an important
element in growing our economy.
It brings our democracy closer to the founding ideals, upholding the
bedrock idea of fairness in our country, that hard work deserves a
decent wage.
Mr. Speaker, I urge a strong, bipartisan vote for this victory for
working families and for America because every Member of this
institution should be fighting to put more money in the pockets of
workers in their community.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Trone), the distinguished member of the
Committee on Education and Labor.
Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Raise the Wage Act.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter signed by over 1,000
businesses that support a fair minimum wage.
Business for a Fair Minimum Wage Federal $15 Sign On Statement
Part 2 of List of About 1,000 Signers and Counting as of July 17, 2019
Alan Chebot, Owner, Parallax Productions, Allston, MA; Dean
Cycon, CEO, Dean's Beans Organic Coffee Company, Orange, MA;
Fred Davis, President, Fred Davis Corporation, Medfield, MA;
Megan Driscoll, CEO, Pharmalogics Recruiting, Quincy, MA;
Dorothy Emerson, Co-founder, Rainbow Solutions, Medford, MA;
Paul English, CTO and President, Lola.com Boston, MA; Rob
Everts, Co-CEO, Equal Exchange West Bridgewater, MA; Jen
Faigel, Executive Director, CommonWealth Kitchen, Dorchester,
MA; Nancy Feton, Co-owner, Broadside Bookshop, Northampton,
MA; Laura Fisher, Owner, Fisher Agencies--American Income
Life, Buington, MA; Tim Fisk, Owner, Salon Herdis,
Northampton, MA; Vincent Frano, Owner, The Bower Studio,
Pelham, MA; Julie Fraser, Principal & Director, Lyno Advisors
Inc & Present Source, Cummaquid, MA; David Gardner,
President/Owner, Boyds Direct Corp, Stoneham, MA; Julie
Goodridge, CEO, Northstar Asset Management. Inc., Boston, MA.
Myrna Greenfield, Owner, Good Egg Marketing, Jamaica Plain,
MA; Jeff Greim, Founder/CEO, Your Choice Brands, Longmeadow,
MA; Tim Greiner, Owner, Pure Strategies, Gloucester, MA;
Valerie + Lhsan Gurdal, Owners, Formaggio Kitchen, Boston,
MA; Abraham Gutman, President & CEO, AG Mednet, Inc., Boston,
MA; Laury Hammel, Owner and CEO, The Longfellow Clubs,
Wayland, MA; Laurence Hammel, Executive Director, Sustainable
Business Network of Massachusetts, Wayland, MA; Jackie
Herskovitz Russell, Founder and President, Teak Media +
Communication, Boston, MA; Shel Horowitz, Owner, Going Beyond
Sustainability, Hadley, MA; Yscaira Jimenez, CEO, LaborX,
Boston, MA; Michael Kanter, Owner, Cambridge Naturals,
Cambridge, MA; Emily Kanter, Owner, Cambridge Naturals,
Boston, MA; Stephen Katsurlnls, Owner, 8 Dyer Hotel,
Provincetown, MA; Sonia Kowal, President, Zevin Asset
Management, Boston, MA; Susan Labandlbar, President, Tech
Networks of Boston, Cambridge, MA; Mike Lapham, Project
Director, Responsible Wealth, Boston, MA.
Joseph Laur, Owner, MapleMama Beverages, Wendell, MA; Gail
Leondar-Wright, Owner, Gail Leondar Public Relations,
Arlington, MA; Karen Levy, Owner, Karen Ann Massage, Jamaica
Plain, MA; Rob Libon, Investment Advisor, Greenvest, West
Whately, MA; Carol Marsh, Owner, Helios Design Group, Jamaica
Plain, MA; Philip Mccarron, Owner, Beacon Solar, Fall River,
MA; Ann McEwen, Hospital Administrator, Riverbend Animal
Hospital, Hadley, MA; Tim McNerney, Founder, Repair
Collective, Shutesbury, MA; Kim Mitchell, Owner, Boing! JP's
Toy Shop, Jamaica Plain, MA; Nick Moore, Owner, Moore
Agencies, Marlborough, MA; Merry Nasser, Partner, Lesser
Newman Aleo & Nasser, Northampton, MA; Larry O'Toole, Founder
and CEO, Gentle Giant Moving Company, Somerville, MA; Heather
Odell, Owner, 3cross Fermentation Cooperative, Worcester, MA;
M Older, Owner (Retired), Martha's, Cambridge, MA; John
Pepper, Founder, Owner, Boloco, Boston, MA.
Berit Pratt, CEO, NitWits LLC, Belmont, MA; James Razsa,
CEO, Democracy Brewing, Boston, MA; Dan Rosenberg, General
Manager, Real Pickles, Greenfield, MA; Joseph Rotella,
President, Spencer Organ Company, Waltham, MA; David
Sandberg, Owner, Porter Square Books, Cambridge, MA; John
Schall, Owner, El Jefe's Taqueria, Cambridge, MA; David
Schreiber, Investment Advisor, CFP, Greenvest, Arlington, MA;
Cullen Schwarz, Founder/CEO, DoneGood, PBC, Cambridge, MA;
Anne Sherman, Director of Operations & Sustainability, Staach
Inc., Cambridge, MA; Alex Silva, Owner, Best Value
Janitorial, Malden, MA; Joy Silverstein, Owner, Fresh Hair,
Jamaica Plain, MA; Harvy Simkovlts, President, Business
Wisdom, Lexington, MA; Peter Simpson, Owner, Haymarket Cafe,
Northampton, MA; Holly Sklar, CEO, Business for a Fair
Minimum Wage, Boston, MA; Peter Smith, Principal, Global
Urban Solutions Newton, MA; Rachael Solem, Owner, Irving
House at Harvard, Cambridge, MA.
Alan Solomont, Ambassador (Ret), Formerly Chairman of
Solomont Bailis Ventures, Weston, MA; David Starr, Managing
Partner, Berkshire Natural, Florence, MA; Dorie Stolley,
Owner, Three Birds Consulting, Plymouth, MA; Robert Thomas,
Social(k) Inc., Social(k) Inc., Springfield, MA; Sidney
Topol, President, The Topal Group, Boston, MA; Marlo Troiani,
IT Consultant, MIC, Newton, MA; David Warner, Owner, City
Feed and Supply, Boston, MA; Nicola WIiiiams, President, The
Williams Agency, Cambridge, MA; Michael Alexander, President,
Conscious Living, LLC, Clinton, MD; Bilal Ali, Executive
Director, Omnis Health Life Wellness Center, Baltimore, MD;
Ned Atwater, Owner, Atwater's Traditional Food, Baltimore,
MD; Souley Bah, Owner, Bah Agencies, Lanham, MD; Alissa
Barron-Menza, Vice President, Business for a Fair Minimum
Wage, Silver Spring, MD; Mitchell Berliner, Owner, Skinny
Salamis, Potomac, MD.
Denise Bowyer, Vice President, American Income Life
Insurance Company, North Beach, MD; Holly Budd, PresidenUCEO,
Williams & Heintz Map Corporation, Capitol Heights, MD;
Andrew Buerger, Owner, B'more Organic, Baltimore, MD;
Annebeth Bunker, Owner, Annebeth's, Annapolis, MD; Tim
Cureton, Owner, Rise Up Coffee Roasters, Easton, MD; Brian
England, President, BA Auto Care, Columbia, MD; Alan
Gregerman, President and Chief Innovation Officer, VENTURE
WORKS Inc., Silver Spring, MD; Seth Grimes, Owner, Alta Plana
Corporation, Takoma Park, MD; Molty Hauck, President, Molly
Perkins Hauck, Ph.D., LLC, Rockville, MD; Laura Hodges,
Owner, Laura Hodges Studio, Catonsville, MD; Irwin Hoenig,
Owner, Living Calmness, Laurel, MD; Dennis Hoffman, Owner,
District East, Frederick, MD; Damian Jones, Owner, Aid
Through Trade, Annapolis, MD; Jacquelyn Jones Ziegler, Owner,
Sugar, Baltimore, MD; Tamira Keith, Owner, Fashion Hangers
Boutique, Baltimore, MD; Devora Kimelman-Block, CEO, KOL
Foods, Silver Spring, MD.
Tom Koerber, President, On Point Help, Baltimore, MD;
Gabriel Kroiz, Principal, Kroiz Architecture, Baltimore, MD;
Jeffrey Landsman, Owner, Specialty Food Sales, Towson, MD;
Michael Lastoria, Founder and CEO, &pizza, Baltimore, MD;
Ivan Makfinsky, Owner, Endosys, LLC, Montgomery Village, MD;
Cerrill Meister, Owner, Eye Candy Opticianry Inc, Baltimore,
MD; Nancy Meyer, CEO, Community Forklift, Edmonston, MD; John
Mitchell, Owner, Interaction Law, Accokeek, MD; Karim Morsli,
Owner, Winkler Automotive Service Center, Gaithersburg, MO;
Scott Nash, Owner, CEO, MOM's Organic Market, Rockville, MD;
Ellen Reich, Owner, Three Stone Steps, Baltimore, MD; Aaeron
Robb, Owner, Ramsay Construction, Baltimore, MD; Glenn
Roessler, Business Development Strategist, Vigilante Coffee
Company, Hyattsville, MD; Abigail Rome, Owner, Tierra Vista,
Silver Spring, MD; Gina Schaefer, Owner, Canton, Federal
Hill, Waverly, Old Takoma Ace Hardware Stores, Baltimore, MD;
Aaron Seyedian, Owner, Well-Paid Maids, Baltimore, MD; Andy
Shallal, Owner, Busboys and Poets Restaurants, Hyattsville,
MD.
Daniel Solomon, Managing Member, Soapstone Investments,
Bethesda, MD; Mayaah Tansi, Owner, Unik Touch Hair Palace,
Windsor Mill, MD; Richard Torgerson, Registered Principal,
SharePower Responsible Investing, Westminster, MD;
Christopher Vigilante, Owner, Vigilante Coffee Company,
Hyattsville, MD; Eleanor Whalen, CEO, Sprayology,
Gaithersburg, MD; Scott Cooper, Director of Finance, Crown
O'Maine, North Vassalboro, ME; Steve Corman, Owner, Vena's
Fizz House, Portland, ME; Rebecca Darr, Co-Owner, Atayne
Brunswick, ME; Susan Farnsworth, Owner, Farnsworth Law Office
Hallowell, ME; Michael Landgarten, CEO/Owner, Bob's Clam Hut/
Lil's Cafe, Kittery, ME; Jonathan Motzkin, Co-Owner,
Makewell, Portland, ME; Sharon Peralta, Principal, Custom
Computer Services & more, Springvale, ME; Mike Shunney,
Owner, Inner Works Center, Rockland, ME; James Wellehan,
President, Lamey-Wellehan Shoes, Auburn, ME; Phillis
Engelbert, Co-founder & Co-owner, The Lunch Room Diner and
Canteen & The Detroit Filling Station, Ann Arbor, MI; Wap
John, CEO, Grafaktri Inc., Ann Arbor, MI.
[[Page H7108]]
Heather Leavitt, Owner, Sweet Heather Anne, Ann Arbor, MI;
Katherine Lesse, Co-Owner, Abracadabra Jewelry, Ann Arbor,
MI; William Martin, Founder and Director, Bio-Health Centre,
Lansing, MI; Joel Panozzo, Co-founder & Co-owner, The Lunch
Room Diner and Canteen & The Detroit Filling Station, Ann
Arbor, MI; Nat Pernick, CEO, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.,
Bingham Farms, MI; Paul Saginaw, Co-Founding Partner,
Zingerman's Community of Businesses, Ann Arbor, MI; Scott
Urbanowski, Owner, Humanoid Digital, Kentwood, MI; Robert
Vogt, CEO, IOSiX, Ypsilanti, MI; Arlys Alford, Owner, Believe
You Can Sing!, Eden Prairie, MN; Kevin Brown, Owner, Smart
Set, Inc., Minneapolis, MN; Bruce Champeau, President and
COO, Room & Board, Golden Valley, MN; Bruce Champeau,
President and COO, Room & Board, Edina, MN; Chad Deley, CEO,
The Deley Group, Brooklyn Park, MN; Karen Denzel, CEO,
Insight Restoration, Plymouth, MN; RJ Devick, President, Bond
& Devick Wealth Partners, St Louis Park, MN; Susan Edgington,
Owner, Adventure Inn, Ely, MN; Audrey Fairchild-Ehm, Owner,
Fairchild-Ehm Foster Care, Roseville, MN.
Eileen Fisher, Founder, EILEEN FISHER, Edina, MN; Chris
Hanson, CEO, thedatabank, gbc, Saint Paul, MN; Melina Lamer,
CEO, Superior Switchel, Saint Cloud, MN; Christopher Loch,
Owner, CONTEMPLB T-SHIRTS, Minneapolis, MN; Edna McKenzie,
CEO, Midwest Select Contracting, Minneapolis, MN; Niel
Ritchie, CEO, Main Street Project, Minneapolis, MN; Steven
Rothberg, Founder, College Recruiter, Minneapolis, MN; Linh
Tu, President, LKT Consulting, Brooklyn Park, MN; Randy
Alberhasky, Owner, Randy Alberhasky Attorney At Law,
Springfield, MO; Michael Allen, Owner, Blossoms Floral,
Springfield, MO; Blanca Anchondo-Polite, Owner, Engage and
Connect LLC, Kansas City, MO; Luke Babich, Principal & Chief
Strategy Officer, Clever Real Estate, St. Louis, MO; Amy
Blansit, Owner, Solely Jolie, Springfield, MO; Priscilla
Block, Executive Director, St. Louis ArtWorks, St. Louis, MO;
Keith Bradley, Co-Owner, Made in KC, Kansas City, MO; Bethany
Budde-Cohen, Owner, SqWires Restaurant, St. Louis, MO; Jordan
Carr, Owner, Oddities Prints, Kansas City, MO.
Jessie Chappell, Owner, CG Immigration Law, St. Louis, MO;
Joseph Chevalier, Owner, Yellow Dog Bookshop, Columbia, MO;
Pam Clark, Owner, Clark's Appliances, Raytown, MO; Frances
Collier, Owner, CEO, River City Rebar LLC, Kansas City, MO;
Zaid Consuegra, Owner & Chef, Pirate's Bone, Kansas City, MO;
Caitlin Corcoran, Managing Partner, Ca Va, Kansas City, MO;
Dominique Davison, Owner & CEO, DRAW Architecture, Kansas
City, MO; Fred Domke, President, Bridge Bread Bakery, St.
Louis, MO; Nancy Dornan, Owner, Maschino's, Springfield, MO;
Mike Draper, Owner, Raygun LLC, Kansas City, MO; Keely
Edgington, Owner, Julep Kansas City, MO; Joe Edwards, Owner,
The Pageant & Delmar Hall Concert Nightclubs, St. Louis, MO;
Joe Edwards, Owner, Blueberry Hill Restaurant & Music Club,
St. Louis, MO; James Fields, Owner, Divine Deli and Drop In
University, City, MO; Jeff Gold, Owner, Anji Mountain, St.
Louis, MO; David Gragg, Agency Owner, David Gragg--Farmers
Insurance Agent, Springfield, MO; Blake Green, Owner, BG Law,
North Kansas City, MO.
Howard Hanna, Owner, The Rieger, Kansas City, MO; Ruth
Ellen Hasser, Celebrant, St. Louis Ceremonies, St. Louis, MO;
Pam Hausner, Owner, Big Vision Design, Kansas City, MO;
Notley Hawkins, Owner, Notley Hawkins Photography, Columbia,
MO; Cindy Higgerson, Owner, Larder & Cupboard, Maplewood, MO;
Craig Hosmer, Owner, Hosmer King & Royce, Springfield, MO;
Nate Hunt, Co-Owner, Correa-Hunt Agency, Kansas City, MO; Joe
Jackson, Owner and CEO, Jackson Pianos, St. Louis, MO;
Dorothy Jones, Owner, Bespoke, St. Louis, MO; Stacy Jurado-
Miller, Owner, Chief Mission Officer, The Vecino Group,
Springfield, MO; Karen Karabell, Managing Partner, S.F.
Shannon Real Estate Management LLC, St. Louis, MO; Laurie
Knowlton, Owner, Zen3 Spa and Bodyworks, Springfield, MO;
Laurie Knowlton, Owner, Pickwick Underground Framing,
Springfield, MO; Liz Kuba, Owner, Tea Rex, St. Louis, MO;
Matthew Laufketter, Owner, The Ink Spot, St. Louis, MO; Paul
Lauritsen, General Manager, Moonrise Hotel, St. Louis, MO.
Ronnie Light, Owner, Sam Light Loan Co., St. Louis, MO;
Leigh Lockhart, Owner, Main Squeeze, Columbia, MO; Katie
McCroskey, Co-Owner, Bob McCroskey Real Estate, Inc.,
Springfield, MO; Andre McCullum, Owner, Hart-McCallum Agency,
Earth City, MO; Chris Meyers, Owner, Crane Brewing Company,
Raytown, MO; Alyson Miller, Executive Director, Partners for
Just Trade, St. Louis, MO; Andrew Montee, Owner, Mokaska
Coffee Company, St. Joseph, MO; Erin Noble, VP of Business
Operations, StraightUp Solar LLC, St. Louis, MO; Hilary
Noonan, Principal, Syntax Land Design, LLC, Kansas City, MO;
Dorian Oldham, Owner, Oldham Midwest, Kansas City, MO; Lew
Prince, Co-Founder & CEO (Ret.), Vintage Vinyl, St. Louis,
MO; Marissa Rosen, Owner, Climate Social, St. Louis, MO;
Julie Sommer, Owner & Operating Manager, Sommer Property
Investments, LLC, St. Louis, MO; Matthew Thenhaus, Owner &
General Manager, The Fortune Teller Bar, St. Louis, MO; Phil
Wages, Co-Owner, Wages Brewing Company, West Plains, MO;
Peter Wallach, Director, Peter Wallach Fine Art, St. Louis,
MO; Nick Ward-Bopp, Owner, Maker Village, Kansas City, MO.
Bridget Weible, Owner, Flowers to the People, St. Louis,
MO; William Handsaker, Partner, C&J Painting, Bozeman, MT;
Anne Alexander, Owner, Authentic Alternatives, Inc., Pisgah
Forest, NC; Elizabeth Altman, Owner, New Bridge Organic
Market, Jacksonville, NC; Philip Chagnon, Owner/Manager,
Residential Rental Properties, Raleigh, NC; Kristen Daniels,
Owner, Kamibashi Corporation, Leicester, NC; Susan Inglis,
Executive Director, Sustainable Furnishings Council, Edenton,
NC; Jeffrey Jones, Owner, Rock Hard Media Group, Bolivia, NC;
Angela McElwee, President, Gaia Herbs, Brevard, NC; Antonio
Reyes, Owner, Reyes Agency, Mathews, NC; Lloyd Smith,
President and CEO, Cortech Solutions, Wilmington, NC; Daniel
Swimm, Founder, Grow Fragrance, Durham, NC; Gunnar Berg,
Partner, Hill People LLC, N. Sandwich, NH; Jessica
Christoferson, Owner, Cymbidium Floral, Exeter, NH; Rebecca
Hamilton, Co-CEO and Family Owner, W.S. Badger Company,
Gilsum, NH; Kyle Swann, Owner, Angelica's Muse, Portsmouth,
NH.
Kris Thieme, Owner, Thieme Agency, Londonderry, NH; Esteve
Torrens, CEO, Stonyfield Farm, Londonderry, NH; Bill Whyte,
Co-Founder, W.S. Badger Company, Gilsum, NH; Jeffrey
Axelbank, Owner, Jeffrey Axelbank, Psy.D., Highland Park, NJ;
Alicia Biasotti Belotta, Owner, ACB Consulting Services,
Verona, NJ; Mitch Cahn, President, Unionwear, Newark, NJ;
Vincent Clyne, Managing Partner, PAIRINGS, Cranford, NJ;
James Devine, Owner, CEO, Devine Advertising Associates,
Rahway, NJ; Gall Friedberg, Vice President, Zago
Manufacturing Company, Newark, NJ; Timothy Glordano,
Attorney, Timothy K. Giordano, Esq., Montclair, NJ; Richard
Lawton, Founder, Triple Ethos, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ;
Richard Lawton, Executive Director, New Jersey Sustainable
Business Council, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ; Sally Malanga,
CEO, Ecco Bella, West Orange, NJ; Myles Mendoza, Owner &
Design Director, Designmaster Group, Edgewater, NJ; Eric
Russell, Owner, Drinkable Air Northeast, Basking Ridge, NJ;
Andy Smith, Owner, Andy Smith Photography, Newton, NJ; Chet
Van Wert, President, Sustainable Business Partners, Scotch
Plains, NJ.
Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, President and CEO, Earth Friendly
Products (Makers of ECOS), Parsippany, NJ; Kimi Wei, CEO, The
Wei, Fair Lawn, NJ; Adam Woods, CEO, Camden Printworks,
Camden, NJ; Dr. Kathleen Burke, MD, Las Cruces, NM; Beatriz
Ferreira, Owner, Paz International, Las Cruces, NM; Elene
Gusch, CEO, Kuan Yin Acupuncture, Albuquerque, NM; Linda
Lillow, Owner, Triple L, Ink Graphic Design, Albuquerque, NM;
Alston Lundgren, Owner (retired), Alston C Lundgren, MD, PC,
Santa Fe, NM; Judith Shipsky, President, Solutions!,
Albuquerque, NM; Drew Tulchin, Owner, UpSpring, Santa Fe, NM;
Anam Kinsey, Owner, BnB SEO, Reno, NV; Corey Neff, Owner,
Neff Agency, Las Vegas, NV; Steven Abel, CEO, Center for
Mediation & Training, Upper Nyack, NY; Nick Balaban,
President, Nick Balaban Music, Inc., Brooklyn, NY; Sebastian
Bardin-Greenberg, Owner, Overtime Records, Brooklyn, NY; Dave
Bauer, President & Owner, The Change Circle, Inc,
Williamsville, NY; David Bolotsky, Founder and CEO,
UncommonGoods, Brooklyn, NY.
Nancy Boyd, President, Bright Wings Inc., Briarcliff Manor,
NY; Richard Brook, Member, Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein,
New York, NY; Ann Bryan, Owner, Ann Krupp Designer Goldsmith,
Saugerties, NY; Simon Burke-Lipiczky, Owner, Build Smart With
Simon, Troy, NY; Linda Christensen, Owner, Blue Quarry
Designs, Trumansburg, NY; Jon Cooper, President, Spectronics
Corporation, Westbury, NY; Jennifer Dotson, Executive
Director, Ithaca Carshare, Ithaca, NY; Marie Duryea,
President, Special Instruction, Northport, NY; Kathie Fox,
Co-Owner, Fanciful Fox, New York, NY; Jeff Furman, Board
Member Emeritus, Ben & Jerry's, Ithaca, NY; Ajax Greene,
Founder/CEO, On Belay Business Advisors Inc., Gardiner, NY;
Brett Gryska, Owner, Oldham-Gryska Agency, Rochester, NY;
Valerie + lhsan Gurdal, Owners, Formaggio Kitchen, New York,
NY; Amy Hall, Vice President. Social Consciousness, EILEEN
FISHER, Irvington, NY; Susan Hansen, Owner, Hansen's Advisory
Services, Inc., Fayetteville, NY; Seth Hirsh, President,
Equus Bloodstock LLC, North Woodmere, NY; Kathleen Hoffman,
Owner, Law Office of Thomas Hoffman, New York, NY.
Brian Hogan, Owner, ICT, Bronx, NY; Jeffrey Hollender,
Founder, Jeffrey Hollender Partners, New York, NY; Eric
Horowitz, Owner, The Double Windsor, Brooklyn, NY; Gintas
Janusonis, Owner, Janusonic Music, Brooklyn, NY; Margaret
Johnston, Owner, BEZ Services LLC, Binghamton, NY; Heidi
Jones, Partner, Allen Street Consulting, Buffalo, NY; Iva
Kaufman, Principal, lva Kaufman Associates, New York, NY;
Jenny Krauss, President, Jenny Krauss, New York, NY; Carole
Laible, CEO, Domini Impact Investments, New York, NY; David
Levine, President, American Sustainable Business Council, New
York, NY; Paul Lightfoot, CEO, BrightFarms, Inc., New York,
NY; Bright Limm, Owner, Principal, Bright D Limm, Esq.,
Flushing, NY; George McDonald, President, The Doe Fund, New
York, NY; Keith Mestrich, President and CEO, Amalgamated
Bank, New York, NY; Jeff Mikkelson, Owner, Jeff Mikkelson
Photography, New York, NY; Michael Miller, Managing Partner,
Rowan Consulting, Howard Beach, NY; Leon Miller-Out,
President/CTO, Singlebrook Technology, Ithaca, NY.
[[Page H7109]]
Prish Moran, Owner, Sweet_ness 7 Cafe, Buffalo, NY; Joshua
Morton, Owner, Proof of Concept, LLC, Brooklyn, NY; Ean
Murphy, Managing Partner, Moxie Bookkeeping, New York, NY;
Michael Owen, Principal, MediaCombo, New York, NY; Clifton
Patrick, Owner, Clifton Patrick P&C Insurance, Chester, NY;
Del Pedro, Managing Partner, Tooker Alley, Brooklyn, NY;
Eleanor Prior, Owner, Prior Beeswax, Germantown, NY; Erwin
Rakoczy, Director, CUFF, Clarence, NY; Jan Rhodes Norman,
Owner, Silk Oak, Ithaca, NY; Jonathan Rose, President,
Jonanthan Rose Companies, New York, NY; Darius Ross, Managing
Partner, D Alexander Ross Real Estate Capital Partners, New
York, NY; Patrick Rousseau, Owner, Iris MediaWorks, Brooklyn,
NY; Lesli Sagan, Owner, Avital's Apiaries, Ithaca, NY; Steven
Salsberg, Chairman, Global Access, New York, NY; Jeffrey
Scales, Managing Principal, JSA Financial Group, Rhinebeck,
NY; Elizabeth Scalisi, Owner/President, Green Effects
Landscaping Services, Inc., Manlius, NY; Jason Schuler,
Founder and President, Drink More Good, Beacon, NY.
Elizabeth Schwartz, Co-Owner, Better Speech Now, Long
Island City, NY; Dylan Skolnick, Co-Director, Cinema Arts
Centre, Huntington, NY; Esther Sokolsky, Co-Owner, Granny
Press, Nyack, NY; Simon Thoresen, Owner, Thoresen and Linard
Architects, New York, NY; Scott Tillitt, Founder, Antidote
Collective, Beacon, NY; Scott Tillitt, Founder, BEAHIVE,
Beacon, NY; Brad Walrod, President, Kenoza Type, Inc., Kenoza
Lake, NY; Steve Zorn, Racing Manager/Owner, Castle Village
Farm, Garden City, NY; Pat Benedure, Owner, The SS Bendure-
Hartwig Group, Columbus, OH; Nicholas Eastman, President,
Electroshield, Yellow Springs, OH; Kevin Holtz, Owner, Holtz
Agency, Cincinnati, OH; Gary Johnson, President, AFI
Contractors, Toledo, OH; Chris Kloth, Owner, ChangeWorks of
the Heartland, Columbus, OH; Steve Mokris, Owner, Kosada,
Athens, OH; Matthew Parks, Owner, SS-Parks-Salvaggi Agency,
North Royalton, OH; Jim Surace, Owner, Surace-Smith Agency,
North Royalton, OH; Paul Akins, Owner, Distinctive Designs
Salon, The Village, OK.
Andrea Anderson, Owner, AM Artistry Printing & Vinyl,
Oklahoma City, OK; Dorshak Blok, Owner, Planet Dorshak,
Oklahoma City, OK; William Bourne, Owner, Bachle's Fireplace
Furnishings, Oklahoma City, OK; Lourdes Chavez, Owner, Dog
Dynasty Grooming, Oklahoma City, OK; Ely Cocklin, Owner, BY.E
Gallery, Oklahoma City, OK; Michael Dixon, Owner, Earthwise
Pet Supply, Oklahoma City, OK; John Dunning, Owner, Trolley
Stop Record Shop, Oklahoma City, OK; Jerry Fina, Owner, Dee's
Shoe Repair, Oklahoma City, OK; Rex Friend, Attorney at Law,
Attorney at Law, Oklahoma City, OK; Gena Goforth, Owner,
Architectural Hardware Designs, Oklahoma City, OK; Diana
Harris, Owner, Bad Granny's Bazaar, Oklahoma City, OK; Kyle
Hix, Owner, Hix Design, Oklahoma City, OK; Angela Hodgkinson,
Co-Owner, Solare, Oklahoma City, OK; Anthony Hurndon, Owner,
K. Marie's Premium Kutz & Stylez, Oklahoma City, OK; Samuel
Jones, Owner, Sammy's Barber Shop, Oklahoma City, OK; Phillip
Jordan, Owner, Fitzgerald's Barber & Supply, Oklahoma City,
OK; Ron Lira, Owner, Honest Ron's Guitars, Oklahoma City, OK.
Charles Martin, Owner, Literati Press, Oklahoma City, OK;
Richard Mills, Owner, The Scuba Dudes, Oklahoma City, OK;
Bryan Moore, Barber, Rooted Barber Shop, Oklahoma City, OK;
Pam Nath, Owner, Drybar, Oklahoma City, OK; Jessi Newsome,
Co-Owner, OKcollective Candle Co., Oklahoma City, OK; Seth
Nun, Owner, AM: Donuts, Oklahoma City, OK; Patrick Patterson,
Owner, Prairie Arts Collective, Oklahoma City, OK; Max
Radcliffe, Owner, Annex Barber Shop, Oklahoma City, OK; Aadi
Rajbhandari, Co-Owner, Fix A Phone, Oklahoma City, OK;
Chelsea Ricks, Owner, Chantilly Couture, Oklahoma City, OK;
Angel Rivera, Owner, Manhattan Tailors, Oklahoma City, OK;
James Scott, Owner, Scott's General Store, Oklahoma City, OK;
John Seward, Co-Founder, AMP Variety, Oklahoma City, OK;
Mandy Smith, Owner, The Motley Parlour, Oklahoma City, OK;
Julie Stanfill, Owner, Julie's Barber Shop, Oklahoma City,
OK; Beth Stetson, Weddle Prof. of Accounting, U. of Oklahoma,
Norman, OK; Vartan ``Tony'' Tonian, Owner, A1 NW Vacuum &
Janitor Supplies, Oklahoma City, OK.
Eden Turrentine, Owner, Eden, Oklahoma City, OK; Robin
Venters, Owner, OKC Music and Sound, Oklahoma City, OK; Paul
Windham, Owner, The Mattress Place, Oklahoma City, OK; Pete &
Jeanie Barkett, Owner, Vinnie's Pizza, Portland, OR; Adrienne
Catone, CEO, Faerie's Dance, Inc., Happy Valley, OR; Daniel
Davis, Owner and President, D2X Construction LLC/ D2X
Associates, Central Point, OR; Larry Fried, Owner, Do Good
Investing, LLC, Eugene, OR; Rosa Gerstner, Owner, Sympatico
Clothing, Jacksonville, OR; Nicole Loffler, Owner, Nomadics
Tipi Makers, Bend, OR; Kevin Marr, Owner, Motel Del Rogue,
Grants Pass, OR; Constance Palaia, Owner, Motel Del Rogue,
Grants Pass, OR; Mitch Rofsky, President, Better World Club,
Portland, OR; Julie Wasmer, Owner, Food Smart LLC, Corvallis,
OR; Dana Weintraub, Owner, Evergreen Sustainability, LLC,
Beaverton, OR; Eugene Aleci, Owner, Community Heritage
Partners, Lancaster, PA; Simon Arias, Owner, Arias Agencies,
Wexford, PA; Benjamin Bingham, CEO, Scarab Funds,
Philadelphia, PA.
Laura Blau, Principal, BluPath Design, Philadelphia, PA;
Mark Bortman, Owner, Exact Solar, Yardley, PA; Peg Botto,
Owner, Cosmic Catering, Philadelphia, PA; Jonathan Brandow,
Owner, BizMiner, Camp Hill, PA; Pelcha Chang, CEO,
Vault+Vine, Philadelphia, PA; Matt Cleveland, Owner,
Occasions Disc Jockeys, Elizabethtown, PA; Charlie Crystle,
Principal, Crystle Consulting, Lancaster, PA; Amy Edelman,
Owner, Night Kitchen Bakery, Philadelphia, PA; Jennie Groff,
CEO, Stroopies, Inc., Lancaster, PA; Kenny Grono, President,
Buckminster Green, Philadelphia, PA; Steve Hackman, Owner,
One Village Coffee, Souderton, PA; Michael Lastoria, Founder
and CEO, &pizza, Philadelphia, PA; Cindy Lou, Owner, Cindy's
Pet Care, Philadelphia, PA; Patrick McMahon, CEO, One Point,
Scranton, PA; Scott Nash, Owner, CEO, MOM's Organic Market,
Bryn Mawr, PA; Michael O'Connor, Owner, La Barberia
Jenkintown, PA; Gerald Onesi, Owner, West Side Auto Repair,
Uniontown, PA.
Jesse Pellman, Co-Owner, Longview Structures Lancaster, PA;
Salam Quadrl, Owner, P&Q Partners, Blue Bell, PA; Anna Shipp,
Executive Director, Sustainable Business Network of Greater
Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA; Brian Taussig-Lux, Co-
founder, Untours, Media, PA; John Traynor, Owner, Harrisburg
Midtown Arts Center, Harrisburg, PA; Ken Weinstein, Owner,
Trolley Car Diner, Philadelphia, PA; Peggy Zwerver, Owner,
Earth--Bread+ Brewery, Philadelphia, PA; Katie Dyer, Owner,
Cadeaux du Mende, Newport, RI; Deborah Schimberg, CEO, Verve,
Inc/ Glee Gum, Providence, RI; Lee Barbour, CEO, Avant
Garage, Charteston, SC; Judy Doty, Operations Manager &
CoFounder, Doty Scientific, Columbia, SC; Jamee Haley,
Executive Director, Lowcountry Local First, Charteston, SC;
Brady Quirk-Garvan, Owner, Money With A Mission, North
Charteston, SC; Mark Tilsen, President & Co-Founder, Native
American Natural Foods, Kyle, SD; Richard Aberdeen,
President, Freedom Tracks Records, Hermitage, TN; Ruth Black,
Owner/Operator, Hidden Springs Nursery, Cookeville, TN.
Maryanna Clarke, Founding Artistic Director, Tennessee
Women's Theater Project, Nashville, TN; Doug Havron, Owner,
Gabby's Burgers and Fries, Nashville, TN; MaryAnne Howland,
CEO, Ibis, Communications Nashville, TN; Stephen Prince,
Owner, Card Marketing Services, Nolensville, TN; Sherry
Stewart Deutschmann, Founder, Letterlogic, Inc., Nashville.
TN; Malissa Anderson, President, EarthWorksTile, Burnet, TX;
Chris Applegate, Owner, SHED Barber and Supply, Austin, TX;
Domenico Bertini, Executive Vice President, American Income
Life, Waco, TX; Kelly Blanscet, Owner, Graphic Granola,
Austin, TX; Beth Carls, CEO, OneSeventeen Media, PBC, Austin,
TX; Bruce Champeau, President and COO, Room & Board, Dallas,
TX; Ronnie ``Merlot'' Coleman, Jr., Owner, Mer1ot's
Barbershop, Houston, TX; Ed Fiedler, Owner, Fiedler On the
Roof Construction, Austin, TX; EIieen Fisher, Founder, EILEEN
FISHER, Dallas, TX; Steve Greer, CEO, American Income Life/
National Income Life, Waco, TX; Manlsh Gupta, Owner/CEO, Matr
Boomie, Austin, TX; Angela Hudson, Co-Owner, Memorial Music,
Houston, TX.
Cliff Hybarger, Owner, Charde Jewelers, Houston, TX;
Michael Jones, Owner, River Oaks Bookstore, Houston, TX; Max
Kabat, Co-Founder, goodDog, Marfa, TX; Linda J. Mann, Owner,
Old Blue House Antiques, Houston, TX; Amanda May, Owner, The
Purple Fig Eco Cleaning Co., Austin, TX; Mike Mulloy, Owner,
House of Coffee Beans, Houston, TX; Tuyen Kim Ngyuen, Owner,
A One Hour Alteration, Houston, TX; Carol Niemi, Owner, Aloha
Services Houston, TX; Leslie Ohayon, Owner, Sacred Leaf
Wellness, Houston, TX; Adam Orman, Owner/GM, L'Oca d'Oro,
Austin, TX; Manuel Oviedo, Owner, Town & Country Tailors,
Houston, TX; Dave Panganiban, Owner, Tea Bar and Organics,
Houston, TX; Dorothy Perez, Owner, AIIArt Framing & Gallery,
Houston, TX; Cindy Reich, Owner, Whim Boutique, Houston, TX;
Mustafa Saleem, Owner, Guyz `N' Style, Houston, TX; Mary
Shaffer, Owner, Shaffer Studios, Marfa, TX; Suzanne Smith,
Founder, Social Impact Architects, Dallas, TX.
Michael Vasu, Owner, Vasu Agency, Houston, TX; Melissa
Vogt, Managing Director, The Butterfly Bar @ The VORTEX,
Austin, TX; Matt Wright, Co-Founder, Little Brother Bar,
Austin, TX; Matt Wright, Owner, Better Half Coffee &
Cocktails, Austin, TX; Matt Wright, Owner, Wright Bros. Brew
& Brew, Austin, TX; Uriel Yoemi, Owner, Custom With Us LLC,
Houston, TX; Karim Zltoun, Owner, Sam's Repair, Houston, TX;
Ziad Zobaidy, Owner, Ziad's Beauty Salon, Houston, TX; Darwin
Crosland, CEO & Founder, Abundant Life Social Services,
Syracuse, UT; Barry Clemson, Owner, Cybemetica Press,
Norfolk, VA; Bruce Grossberg, owner, Buz and Ned's Real
Barbecue, Richmond, VA; Michael Lastoria, Founder and CEO,
&pizza, Alexandria, VA; Sandra Leibowitz, Managing Principal,
Sustainable Design Consulting, Richmond, VA; Sarah Mason,
Owner, Poseidon's Pantry, Chincoteague, VA; Scott Nash,
Owner, CEO, MOM's Organic Market, Arlington, VA; James
Samans, Executive Member, XENSHA, Alexandria, VA.
Gina Schaefer, Owner, Old Town Ace Hardware, Alexandria,
VA; Andy Shallal, Owner, Busboys & Poets Restaurants,
Artington, VA; Yvonne Baab, Owner, Global Gifts, Montpelier,
VT; Joey Bergsteln, CEO, Seventh Generation, Burtington, VT;
Theodore Casparian, Founder, Sustainable Investing 4 All,
Morrisville, VT; Ben Cohen, Co-Founder, Ben and Jerry's,
South Burlington, VT; Elizabeth Glenshaw, President, Clean
Yield
[[Page H7110]]
Asset Management Norwich, VT; Patricia C. Heffernan,
President and Founder, Marketing Partners Burtington, VT;
Jeffrey Hollender, Chairman, Sustain Natural, Burlington, VT;
Sascha Mayer, CEO, Mamava, Burtington, VT; Sue Morris, Owner,
Editide, Marshfield, VT; Todd Walker, Senior Financial
Advisor, Greenvest, Wells, VT; Martin Wolf, Director, Product
Sustainability, Seventh Generation, Burlington, VT; Rick
Altig, President, Altig International, Redmond, WA; Denise
Attwood, Owner, Ganesh Himal Trading, Spokane, WA; Kelly
Bell, Founder, Gotham City Drupal, Mossyrock, WA.
Diane Emerson, Associate, Watershed LLC, Vashon, WA; Kelsey
Marshall, Co-Founder, Grounds for Change, Poulsbo, WA;
William McColl, Owner, McColl Studio, Blaine, WA; Gage
Mitchell, Owner, Principal, Modern Species, Seattle, WA; John
Perkins, CEO, Dream Change, Bainbridge Island, WA; Jyoti
Stephens, Sustainability and Stewardship Manager, Nature's
Path, Richmond, WA; Sash Sunday, Owner, OlyKraut, Olympia,
WA; Kelly Vlahakls-Hanks, President and CEO, Earth Friendly
Products (Makers of ECOS), Lacey, WA; Bruce Wade, Owner,
Taurus Tech, Mount Vernon, WA; Eric Yarnell, President, Heron
Botanicals, Kingston, WA; Michael Katz, President, Molded
Dimensions, Port Washington, WI; Gary Lemke, Owner, Gary L.
Lemke Landscaping, Potter, WI; Margaret May, Owner, May
Educational Psychology, Richland Center, WI; Jerry McGeorge,
Vice President of Cooperative Affairs, Organic Valley, La
Farge, WI; Jerry Moors, Senior VP of Sales, Springs Window
Fashions, Middleton, WI; Mary Stelletello, Founder, Vista
Global Coaching & Consulting, Madison, WI.
Mr. TRONE. Mr. Speaker, I have a unique perspective on this issue. I
was a businessman. Before I ran for Congress, I founded a small
business with just a few employees. Now, I own a business with over
7,000 employees in 25 States.
At my company, we understand that if you take care of your team
members by paying them a living wage, they will take care of our
customers, and our business will do better because of it. Everyone
wins.
This isn't hypothetical for me. My business operates in many cities,
like Seattle, with a $15 minimum wage. When the laws changed, we didn't
cut jobs, and our business did not suffer. Quite the opposite.
When we raise the wage, we see 1.3 million Americans lifted out of
poverty, 600,000 of whom are children; we see families who can afford
their rent, healthcare, and other necessities; and we see a stronger
economy.
When we raise the wage, we see a win for business, a win for working
families, and a win for our economy.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Scott for his leadership on this
critically important issue, and I urge my colleagues to support this
bill.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Speaker, I started, like many folks did, working when
I was a young man. People have different reasons for seeking
employment. I needed to get out of the house, as some things were
happening at the house, but I didn't have any skills.
I rode my bike to a nearby farm, and I picked fruit. I didn't make
minimum wage because I couldn't pick fruit fast enough, because I
didn't have the skills to do that when I was 13 years old, but I
learned to show up on time with a good attitude. That is a valuable
thing. That is where we start out.
That job wouldn't have been available if this minimum wage of $15,
enacted from the Federal level, would have forced that employer to make
a choice whether they hired me or hired somebody else. I didn't want to
make the minimum wage. I wanted to make the maximum wage, but I had to
have some skills.
The next job I got still wasn't minimum wage, but I worked hard. Now,
I had the skill of showing up on time with a good attitude. I kept on
doing better and better and better for myself because the jobs were
available.
Mr. Speaker, if this legislation is enacted, young people and people
at the bottom of the economic spectrum that we are trying to help are
not going to have that opportunity. That is what this is really about
in America, having opportunity.
A minimum wage requirement from the Federal level doesn't draw any
distinctions between Los Angeles and Gratz, Pennsylvania, a great
little town that I am privileged to represent. It doesn't draw a
distinction between Chicago or Shiremanstown. It says they all have to
do the same thing. Dover or New York, all the same wage, really.
I don't have tall skyscrapers in central Pennsylvania like they do in
New York City, Chicago, and L.A., but I have hardworking people who
want the opportunity that is provided by the market.
There are 7.5 million jobs open right now. The market is providing
the wages to incentivize people to come to them, and they have an
opportunity to go to another job and make even more under the free
market.
The Federal Government is going to stifle that with this $15 an hour
minimum wage.
Mr. Speaker, I urge us not to vote for this bill.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I remind my colleague that his
vote against this bill is a vote to deny about 35 percent of the
workers in his district in Pennsylvania an average raise of about
$3,200 a year.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania
(Ms. Wild), a distinguished member of the Committee on Education and
Labor.
Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, there should not be anybody in this room
arguing that $7.25 an hour is sufficient for a worker's well-being.
When adjusted for inflation, $7.25 is less than the Federal minimum
wage of 50 years ago.
I support this bill because 98,000 workers in my district in
Pennsylvania deserve a long-overdue raise. We are now in the midst of
the longest period of time without an increase to the Federal minimum
wage.
I support this bill because, while corporations are making record
profits off the backs of workers, wage stagnation and increased cost of
living have bankrupted hardworking families across my district.
This bill would increase the minimum wage gradually.
This is not a ``bad for business'' piece of legislation, as my
colleagues across the aisle allege. It is a ``good for everyone'' bill
that puts more money into our workers' pockets.
Our colleagues of the past would be baffled by the opposition to this
bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds
to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania.
Ms. WILD. The Federal Labor Standards Act was passed in 1938 for the
explicit purpose of protecting workers from substandard wages. That
landmark bill passed the House by a vote of 291-89.
By the letter of that law, the minimum standard of living necessary
for a worker's well-being is in Congress' hands. Members of both
parties chose not to leave it up to market forces because poverty-level
wages, sweatshops, and poor working conditions should not happen in the
United States of America in 1938 or in 2019.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Wright).
Mr. WRIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 582, the Raise
the Wage Act, or, as it should be called, the Raising Unemployment for
American Workers Act.
I was disappointed to hear that Democratic members on the Rules
Committee failed to make my amendment in order. The amendment
prohibited H.R. 582 from going into effect if the Government
Accountability Office found that over 500,000 jobs would be lost to
automation as a direct result of this legislation, a very reasonable
amendment.
This amendment was intended to make sure that, in seeking to improve
economic outcomes for workers, especially lower-wage and lesser-skilled
workers, we don't adopt policies that have the opposite effect.
This radical legislation would more than double the Federal minimum
wage, the largest-ever increase since its creation. The recent
Congressional Budget Office report on this bill paints a bleak picture
of the consequences if it ever becomes law.
When fully implemented, this legislation would result in as many as
3.7 million, almost 270,000 from the State of Texas, jobs lost. Across
the country, total real family income would drop by $9 billion.
At a time when the economy is expanding, wages are rising above
inflation, and unemployment is the lowest it has been in decades, we
should not be considering job-killing, income-reducing legislation.
[[Page H7111]]
The negative impacts of such a disastrous bill would be felt in high-
income urban areas, but they would be even more severe in lower income
rural areas. The economic conditions of Navarro County, Texas, in my
district, where the median income is $45,000 a year, are not the same
as San Francisco, where the median income is more than double that. A
federally mandated doubling of the minimum wage would burden these
people and businesses, forcing them to cut hours, let employees go, and
close business doors.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 15
seconds to the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. WRIGHT. My colleagues across the aisle like to point to the
number of people who will be lifted out of poverty but consistently
fail to acknowledge that the same number of Americans are expected to
lose their jobs. It seems to me that this bill is a sweet deal, but
only if you get to keep your job.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time
is left on both sides.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Virginia has 10\1/2\
minutes remaining. The gentlewoman from North Carolina has 2\1/2\
minutes remaining.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I remind my colleague from Texas
that a vote against this bill is a vote to deny about 30 percent of the
workers in his district in Texas an average raise of about $3,800 a
year.
I also will point out that the same CBO report that he cited cites
the three most recent studies showing the number of jobs will actually
go up as a direct result of the passage of this bill, and 27 million
people are getting a raise.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts
(Mrs. Trahan), a distinguished member of the Committee on Education and
Labor.
Mrs. TRAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from
women's community groups in support of this legislation.
July 15, 2019.
Pass the Raise the Wage Act
Dear Members of Congress: As members of a broad coalition
of organizations that promote economic security and equity
for women, we strongly urge you to pass the Raise the Wage
Act as a top priority of the 116th Congress.
The Raise the Wage Act will raise the federal minimum wage
from $7.25 to $15 an hour by 2024, then index the minimum
wage so that it continues to rise along with wages overall.
It will also end unfair exclusions for tipped workers, people
with disabilities, and youth so that they, too, can benefit
from a decent minimum wage.
Women across the country--especially women of color--
continue to experience a pay gap and a higher risk of poverty
than men. Women working full time, year round typically make
only 80 percent of what their male counterparts make, leaving
a wage gap of 20 cents on the dollar. This wage gap varies by
race and is larger for women of color: Black women working
full time, year round typically make only 61 cents, Native
women only 58 cents, and Latinas only 53 cents, for every
dollar paid to their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts.
While Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women make
85 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men,
many AAPI communities experience drastically wider pay gaps.
Women's overrepresentation in low-wage jobs is a driving
force behind the gender pay gap. Women are close to two-
thirds of the workforce in jobs that pay the minimum wage or
just a few dollars above it, as well as two-thirds of workers
in tipped jobs. Women of color are particularly
overrepresented among tipped workers and other low-wage
workers. They are particularly harmed by the $7.25 federal
minimum wage that has not gone up in a decade and by the
$2.13 tipped minimum cash wage that has been frozen for an
astonishing 28 years.
Poverty-level wages heighten women's economic
vulnerability, which in turn heightens their vulnerability to
sexual harassment on the job. Women who rely on tips to
survive often feel compelled to tolerate inappropriate
behavior from customers so as not to jeopardize their income
and employers are often unwilling to protect their employees
for fear of upsetting a paying customer. Women's lack of
economic power in these workplaces perpetuates the already
pervasive culture of sexual harassment in industries that
employ large numbers of tipped workers.
The Raise the Wage Act is critically needed to advance
women's economic security and dignity in the workplace. The
Economic Policy Institute estimates that increasing the
federal minimum wage to $15 by 2024 would give nearly one in
three working women a raise, including 41 percent of Black
working women, 38 percent of working Latinas, 29 percent of
white working women, and 18 percent of Asian working women.
Women and people of color have been left behind by our
economy and our policies far too often, for far too long.
Adopting the Raise the Wage Act would mark a crucial step
toward ensuring they can work with equity, dignity, and
safety. There is no more fitting way to begin this historic
Congress than by making real, concrete progress in ensuring
all women receive adequate pay.
We urge you to prioritize the Raise the Wage Act in the
116th Congress by swiftly passing this legislation.
Sincerely,
9to5, National Association of Working Women; 9to5 Georgia;
A Better Balance; Abortion Access Front; ACCESS; African
American Health Alliance; All-Options; Amara Legal Center;
American Association of University Women (AAUW); American
Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME).
American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO; AFT Local 1766
(Union of Rutgers Administrators); American Medical Student
Association; American Psychological Association; Americans
for Democratic Action (ADA); Arizona Coalition to End Sexual
& Domestic Violence; Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance,
AFL-CIO; Black Women's Roundtable; MS Black Women's
Roundtable; Bucks County Women's Advocacy Coalition.
California Child Care Resource & Referral Network;
Cambridge Committee to Raise the Minimum Wage; Caring Across
Generations; Center for American Progress; Center for
Frontline Retail; Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP);
Center for Popular Democracy; Chelsea Collaborative; Citizen
Action of New York; Clearinghouse on Women's Issues.
Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW); California Capital
Chapter, CLUW; Capital Area Chapter, CLUW; Chesapeake Bay
Chapter, CLUW; Chicago Chapter, CLUW; Cleveland Chapter,
CLUW; Florida Chapter, CLUW; Genesee County Chapter, CLUW;
Grand Prairie Arlington Chapter, CLUW; Greater Kansas City
Chapter, CLUW.
Greater New Jersey Chapter, CLUW; Greater Oklahoma City
Chapter, CLUW; Houston Chapter, CLUW; Kate Mullany Chapter,
CLUW; King County Chapter, CLUW; Lorain County Chapter, CLUW;
Los Angeles Chapter, CLUW; Metro-Detroit Chapter, CLUW;
Metropolitan District of Columbia Chapter, CLUW; Missouri
Chapter, CLUW.
Northeast Cleveland Chapter, CLUW; Pennsylvania State
Chapter, CLUW ; Philadelphia Chapter, CLUW; Rhode Island
Chapter, CLUW; San Diego Chapter, CLUW; San Francisco
Chapter, CLUW; Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter, CLUW; St.
Louis Chapter, CLUW; Western New York Chapter, CLUW; Western
Virginia Chapter, CLUW.
Coalition on Human Needs; Color of Change; Connecticut
Women's Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF); Criminalization of
Poverty Project at the Institute for Policy Studies; Day One;
Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment & Appeals Project;
Economic Opportunity Institute; Empire Justice Center; Equal
Rights Advocates; Equality North Carolina.
Equality Ohio; Fair World Project; Federally Employed
Women; Feminist Majority Foundation; Food Chain Workers
Alliance; Forward Together; Found Objects Transformed;
Friends Committee on National Legislation; Futures Without
Violence; Gender Justice.
Health Care for America Now; If/When/How: Lawyering for
Reproductive Justice; Illinois Coalition Against Sexual
Assault; In Our Own Voice: National Black Women's
Reproductive Justice Agenda; Innovation Ohio Education Fund;
Institute for Women's Policy Research; Interfaith Worker
Justice; Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action; Jewish
Women International; Jobs With Justice; Jobs With Justice,
Cleveland; Jobs With Justice, St Joseph Valley Project.
Justice for Migrant Women; Kentucky Equal Justice Center;
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA); Las
Hermanas USA; Laundry Workers Center; Legal Momentum, The
Women's Legal Defense and Education Fund; Maine Women's
Lobby; Massachusetts Voter Table; Milwaukee Area Service &
Hospitality Workers Organization (MASH); Mississippi
Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
MNCASA; Moms Demand Action, Triad North Carolina;
MomsRising; NAACP; NARAL Pro-Choice, North Carolina; National
Alliance to End Sexual Violence; National Asian Pacific
American Women's Forum (NAPAWF); National Association of
Social Workers, Massachusetts Chapter; National Center for
Lesbian Rights; National Coalition for the Homeless.
National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Central Ohio
Chapter; National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Queen City
Metropolitan Chapter; National Committee on Pay Equity;
National Council of Jewish Women; National Council of Jewish
Women, Arizona; National Council of Jewish Women, Greater New
Orleans; National Council of Jewish Women, Pennsylvania;
National Domestic Workers Alliance; National Employment Law
Project; National Employment Lawyers Association.
National Immigration Law Center; National Institute for
Reproductive Health (NIRH); National LGBTQ Task Force Action
Fund; National Network of Abortion Funds; National
Organization for Women (NOW);
[[Page H7112]]
NOW, Louisiana; NOW, North Carolina; NOW, Raleigh; NOW,
Southwest Pennsylvania; NOW, Triad North Carolina.
National Partnership for Women & Families; National Women's
Law Center; National Women's Health Network; NETWORK Lobby
for Catholic Social Justice; Nevada Coalition to End Domestic
and Sexual Violence; New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault
Programs; New Voices for Reproductive Justice; New York Union
Child Care Coalition; North Carolina State AFL-CIO; North
Carolina Women United.
Nurses for Sexual and Reproductive Health; Ohio Alliance to
End Sexual Violence; Ohio Domestic Violence Network; Ohio
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice; Oklahoma Women's
Coalition; Organization United for Respect; Oxfam America;
Path Ways PA; Pennsylvania NOW; People For the American Way.
PHENOM (Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts);
Physicians for Reproductive Health; PL+US: Paid Leave for the
United States; PowHer New York; Project IRENE; Public Justice
Center; PWN-USA; Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
Coalition; Restaurant Opportunities Centers United;
Restaurant Opportunities Center, Pennsylvania.
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United
States (SIECUS); Shriver Center on Poverty Law; Solace Crisis
Treatment Center; Tennessee Valley Coalition to End
Homelessness; Tewa Women United; The Women's Law Center of
Maryland; Union for Reform Judaism; Unitarian Universalist
Mass Action Network; United Church of Christ, Justice and
Witness Ministries; United for A Fair Economy.
United Democratic Women of MD, Inc.; URGE: Unite for
Reproductive & Gender Equity; V.I. Domestic Violence & Sexual
Assault Council; Valencia Shelter Services; Vermont Network
Against Domestic and Sexual Violence; Voices for Progress;
Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban
Affairs; Washington State Coalition of Sexual Assault
Programs; West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy; Western
Center on Law and Poverty.
Women & Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania; Women
Employed; Women Lawyers of Sacramento; Women of Reform
Judaism; Women's Law Project; Women's Rights and Empowerment
Network; Women's Medical Fund, Pennsylvania; WomenRising,
Inc.; Working Washington/Fair Work Center; Workplace
Fairness.
WV FREE; Yellowhammer Fund; YWCA USA; YWCA, Dayton; ZERO TO
THREE.
{time} 1030
Mrs. TRAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to give
more than 33 million deserving Americans a raise by voting for the
Raise the Wage Act.
I want to commend Chairman Scott and his staff for their outstanding
work to get us to this point.
The current Federal minimum wage rate hasn't budged in a decade, but
basic costs have, and they have dramatically. It is an affront to basic
fairness and an intolerable conditions for families working hard yet
falling further and further behind.
They live on a razor's edge facing impossible choices:
Paying the rent or the car;
Buying diapers and formula for their children or medication for
themselves;
Cutting a check for a student loan debt payment or a doctor's visit.
Today, a single mother with two children working full-time at $7.25
an hour is living well below the Federal poverty line. We can fix that
by voting to give her a raise.
Let's do the same for the rest of America by passing the Raise the
Wage Act. It is long overdue.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez), the chair of the Committee
on Small Business.
Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I am from New York, and I rise in support
of the Raise the Wage Act of 2019 for workers in my district and
workers everywhere, particularly rural America.
The Raise the Wage Act is a long overdue minimum wage increase that
will lift wages for millions of Americans and boost the small business
economy.
Today, under the current minimum wage of just $7.25 per hour,
American workers and their families are living on the margins. They
spend nights at the dinner table having to decide whether to pay for
their child's school trip or groceries for the week.
If we are to build a better economy for all Americans, we must ensure
that our workers can make a good living and have a good life.
Poll after poll shows that small business owners support raising the
minimum wage. This is because doing so has been proven to help small
firms better retain employees who, in turn, are more productive and
higher performing.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a sign-on statement from
Business for a Fair Minimum Wage.
Business for a Fair Minimum Wage Federal $15 Sign On Statement
As business owners and executives, we support gradually
raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2024. It's good
for business, good for customers and good for our economy.
Workers are also customers. Today's $7.25 minimum wage--
just $15,080 a year for full-time workers--doesn't even cover
the basics. Raising the minimum wage puts money in the
pockets of people who most need to spend it, increasing sales
at businesses and boosting the economy.
Raising the minimum wage makes good business sense. Low pay
typically means high turnover. Raising the minimum wage pays
off in lower employee turnover, reduced hiring and training
costs, lower error rates, increased productivity and better
customer service. Employees often make the difference between
repeat customers or lost customers.
Raising the minimum wage is smart policy. It will reduce
the strain on the safety net caused by wages that people
can't live on. It will help level the playing field for
businesses and strengthen the consumer spending businesses
depend on to thrive.
About 1,000 Signers and Counting as of July 17, 2019
Holly Sklar, CEO, Business for a Fair Minimum Wage; Jen
Landry, Owner, Steller Botanical Health, Gustavus, AK;
Phillip Austin, Owner, DJ Cabinetry Tuscaloosa, AL; Eddie
Babies, Owner, Eddie B's Barber Shop Montgomery, AL; Varis
Berry, Owner, New Beginning Barber & Style Montgomery, AL;
Larry Bethune, Owner, Brenda's BBQ, Montgomery, AL; Joseph
Bradley, Co-Owner, Sidekicks Sneaker Shop, Birmingham, AL;
Tahera Broadnax, Owner, The Hair Day Birmingham, AL; David
Brown, Owner, Manitou Supply, Birmingham, AL; Stephanie
Brown, Owner, Hue Studio, Montgomery, AL; Dawn Cassizzi,
Owner, Beacon Yoga, Birmingham, AL; Michael Crayton, Owner,
MandE Suits, Montgomery, AL.
Robert Dean, Owner, Momma Goldberg's Deli, Homewood, AL;
Adriane Dunson, Owner, Cora Bella LLC, Tuscaloosa, AL; Newman
Evans, Owner, Newman's Classic Cuts, Birmingham, AL; Dan
Hall, Owner, Queen City Cycles, Tuscaloosa, AL; Benita Hall,
Owner, Shaebreezy Beauty Bar, Montgomery, AL; Carla Hamilton,
Owner, Four Comers Gallery, Birmingham, AL; James Harris,
President, Harvest Midwest, Birmingham, AL; Tim Hicks, Owner,
Veteran Cuts Barber Shop, Montgomery, AL; Ashraf Hijaz,
Owner, Beauty & Beyond, Montgomery, AL; Justin Holt, Owner,
Dotson's Burger Spot, Tuscaloosa, AL; Jose lzaguarre, Owner,
TechniGO, Tuscaloosa, AL; Nate Johnson, Owner, Teamwork
Barber Shop, Selma, AL; Walter L Johnson Sr., Owner, Village
East Shoe Center, Montgomery, AL; Raymond Josof, Owner, Five
Points Hotdogs, Birmingham, AL; Melissa Kendrick, CEO,
Sojourns, Birmingham, AL; Uluybell Khorsanov, Owner, Prof
Alterations, Tuscaloosa, AL; Dr. Jerry Kirby, Owner, Kirby
Chiropractic Clinic, Montgomery, AL; LaKeitha Knox, Owner,
The Head Doctor, Tuscaloosa, AL; Nicholas Lewis, Owner, Tha
Cutting Zone, Tuscaloosa, AL; Brandon MacDonald, Owner,
MacDonald Insurance Group, Birmingham, AL; Alexis Martin,
Owner, Lex Couture Boutique, Selma, AL; Charli Matthews, CEO,
Empowering Brands, Tuscaloosa, AL; Marisa Mitchell, Owner,
Swaddle, Birmingham, AL; Kenya Mitchell, Owner, SKT Hair
Salon, Selina, AL; Byong Hyon Moon, Owner, Tuny Custom T-
shirts, Montgomery, AL.
Naboo A. Obeird, Owner, Makano's Kabob Express, Birmingham,
AL; Derrick Paoletto, Owner, The Record Stop, Montgomery, AL;
Salisha Parker, Owner, This & That LLC, Selma, AL; Kirsten
Perry, Owner, KD Bridal & Prom, Selma, AL; Brittney Powell,
Owner, Kay Couture, Montgomery, AL; Jim Reed, Owner, Reed's
Book Store, Birmingham, AL; Katie Rengers, Director and
Vicar, The Abbey, Birmingham, AL; Juan Rivera, Owner,
Rivera's Barber Shop, Northport, AL; Jim Robertson, Owner,
Robertson's Health Food Center, Northport, AL; Betty Rollins,
Owner, Cloverdale Laundry & Dry Cleaners, Montgomery, AL;
Chris Roycroft, Owner, Olive Tree, Tuscaloosa, AL; Vanessa
Sanders, Owner, Kut N Go, Montgomery, AL; Craig Shaw, Owner,
True Story Brewing Co., Birmingham, AL.
William Sheppard, Owner, Sheppard's Pet Supply, Birmingham,
AL; Muhammad Sikander, Owner, Shoe Times, Montgomery, AL;
Mellissa Smith, Owner, Island Delight, Montgomery, AL;
Jarrell Smith, Owner, Cutz & Budz, Montgomery, AL; Gregory
Smitherman, Owner, Anatomy of Pi, Dora, AL; Justin Snipes,
Owner, The Comic Strip, Tuscaloosa, AL; Casey Snipes, Owner,
Trxi Vintage, Birmingham, AL; Mark Snyder, Owner, Mark's
Joint Restaurant, Homewood, AL; Robby Spaeth, Owner, Capital
City Tire & Auto Sales, Montgomery, AL; Curtis Starks, Co-
owner, Train & Burn, Birmingham, AL; Cheri Stewart, Owner,
Trim Tab Brewing, Birmingham, AL; Deon Trone, Owner, Deon's
Style & Barber Shop, Tuscaloosa, AL; Deon Trone, Owner,
Deon's Automotive, Tuscaloosa, AL; Teresa Vickrey,
[[Page H7113]]
Owner, Natural Healing, Montgomery, AL; Johnny Weatherspoon,
Owner, Style Connection Barber Shop, Tuscaloosa, AL; LaTesha
Wells, Owner, Salon Ambience, Tuscaloosa, AL; Christie White,
Owner, Arcadia Salon, Birmingham, AL; Tim Williamson, Owner,
Carter Drug, Selma, AL; Kandice Wright, Owner, Hair by
Kandice, Tuscaloosa, AL; Bradley Wyatt, Owner, Copper Top,
Tuscaloosa, AL; Blake Ralston, Owner, Ralston Agency, Fort
Smith, AR; Steve Svendson, Owner, Svendson Agency, Rogers,
AR; Daniel Aguilera, Owner, 480 Barber Shop, Chandler, AZ;
Janice Brian, Owner, Alley Cats Haircutting Salon, Flagstaff,
AZ; Malcolm Bates, Owner, Rogue Antiques Retro and Vintage,
Flagstaff, AZ.
Paula Beltran, Owner, V.I. Alterations & Tailoring, Mesa,
AZ; Rita Burnette, Owner, Make-U-Mobile, Mesa, AZ; Eric Cady,
Co-Owner, Chupacabra Taproom, Mesa, AZ; Francisco Carlos,
Owner, Cabinets by Design, Phoenix, AZ; Cartiye Carter,
Owner, 24K Hair Spa, Phoenix, AZ; Jorge Castillo, Co-Owner,
The Gaming Zone, Tempe, AZ; Alison Chandler, Co-Owner, Noble
Beast Pet Market, Phoenix, AZ; Abel Chavez, Owner, Chavez
Barber Shop, Tempe, AZ; Shang Syun Chiu, Owner, Dealer
Electronics, Mesa, AZ; Natalie Clark, Owner, AZ Lash Lady,
Chandler, AZ; Kimberly Clarke, Owner, Solstice Intimates,
Tempe, AZ; Mark Cosmas, Owner, iRun, Phoenix, AZ.
Phil Costa, Owner, Unique Pianos, Phoenix, AZ; Lauren
Danuser, Owner, Local Nomad, Phoenix, AZ; Daniel DeHoyos,
Owner, Fritz's Barbershop, Mesa, AZ; Eileen Fisher, Founder,
EILEEN FISHER, Scottsdale, AZ; Alfredo Flores, Owner, Watch &
Jewelry Repair, Tempe, AZ; Farrell Friedland, President,
Professional Alternatives of Arizona, LLC, Scottsdale, AZ;
Justin Fultz, Owner, Let Us Floor You, Inc, Chandler, AZ;
Gina Galaviz, Co-Owner, Flag T Factory, Flagstaff, AZ;
Kristin Garcia, Owner, Purge Love Peace Rage Room, Chandler,
AZ; Brenda Hackman, Co-Owner, EmbroidMe, Phoenix, AZ; Tim
Hackman, Co-Owner, EmbroidMe, Phoenix, AZ; Billy Halton, Co-
Owner, Casa Grande Dry Cleaning, Casa Grande, AZ.
Eddie Hantas, Owner, Hummus Express, Tempe, AZ; Lamar
Harris, Co-Owner, Get Sassy Beauty Supply, Chandler, AZ;
Nicholas Harron, Owner, 1UPGames, Mesa, AZ; Fahima Hassan,
Owner, Khyber Halal, Phoenix, AZ; Dionne Hauke, Owner,
Ziggie's Music, Phoenix, AZ; Jason Hemann, Owner, Kitchen AZ,
Chandler, AZ; Gabrielle Hopkins, Owner, Food Diva AZ,
Chandler, AZ; Gabrielle Hopkins, Owner, Wild Elk Den,
Chandler, AZ; Jeannette Housner, Owner, Dion's Le Wig Shoppe,
Scottsdale, AZ; Skip Jones, Owner, Caveman Printing &
Apparel, Mesa, AZ; Brad Keeling, Owner, Maroney's Cleaners &
Laundry, Phoenix, AZ.
Brad Keeling, President, OrganiCare, Phoenix, AZ; Danyelle
Kimbell, Owner, Just In Time Hair Design, Chandler, AZ;
Anthony Kyhn, Owner, Salon Red Arcadia, Phoenix, AZ; Adele
LaVoie, Owner, French Method Salon, Phoenix, AZ; Cenobio
Lopez, Owner, Nancy's Jewelry and Clothing, Chandler, AZ;
Alison Lueders, CEO, Great Green Content, Phoenix, AZ; David
Luna, Owner, Luna's Hair & Barbershop, Mesa, AZ; Treasure
Mandley, Owner, HairADize, Chandler, AZ; Nancy J. McCulla,
Owner, Simply Delicious Catering & Cafe Daily Fare,
Flagstaff, AZ; Edmundo Meraz, Co-Owner, Republica Empanada,
Mesa, AZ; Scott Miner D.C., Owner, OMNI Chiropractic, Tempe,
AZ; Kim Natori, Founder, Let's Begin Again, Phoenix, AZ;
Maria Ortiz, Owner, La Nortenita, Flagstaff, AZ; Heather
Phalan, Owner, All Awards Studio, Flagstaff, AZ; Meir
Pinhkasov, Owner, Brooklyn'z Barbershop LLC, Phoenix, AZ;
Turney Postlewait, Owner, Biff's Bagels' Flagstaff, AZ; Urban
Quintero, Co-Owner, Quintero Jewelry, Chandler, AZ; Leo
Ramirez, Co-Owner, Sa Morz Bakery, Casa Grande, AZ;Alma
Reyes, Owner, Isela's Beauty Salon, Chandler, AZ; Dianne
Ripplinger, Owner, Di's Hair & Nail Salon, Mesa, AZ; Laurel
Roach, Owner, Trifit Wellness, Phoenix, AZ; John Rooney, Co-
Owner, Adventures in Stained Glass, Casa Grande, AZ; Michael
Roviello, Owner, Andromeda LLC, Phoenix, AZ; Sergio Sanchez,
Owner, Crates Records, Phoenix, AZ; Michael Spangenberg,
Owner, State Forty Eight, Chandler, AZ; Wayne B. Taylor,
President, Taylor's Flooring, Mesa, AZ.
Bob Thomas, Owner, Bob's Tropical Inc., Phoenix, AZ; Chris
Thomas, Owner, Universal Cuts & Design, Mesa, AZ; Paul Torok,
CEO, PS YES LLC, Phoenix, AZ; Harold Torres, President, Hair
2 Day, Tempe, AZ; Pete Turner, Owner, Illegal Pete's
Restaurants, Tucson, AZ; Alvaro Valentin, Owner, Fresh As Can
``V'', Chandler, AZ; Dan Vasquez, Owner, Dapper Dan's Barber
Shop, Scottsdale, AZ; Dustin Venekamp, Owner, Altig-Venekamp
Agency, Phoenix, AZ; Marie Verdugo, Owner, NuYou Life Center,
Phoenix, AZ; Jamie Warner, Co-Owner, Yellow Jacket Comics
LLC, Tempe, AZ; Brittany Weir, Owner, The Mad Bird, Phoenix,
AZ; Paul Williams, Owner/Chef, Smoke Dem Bones BBQ, Phoenix,
AZ.
Maury Williamson, Owner, The Country Clipper Barbershop,
Chandler, AZ; Natasha Winnik, Owner, Originate Natural
Building Materials Showroom, Tucson, AZ; Carolyn Young,
Owner, West of the Moon Jewelry & Art, Flagstaff, AZ; Annette
Zepeda, Co-Owner, Hair Deco, Phoenix, AZ; Feliciano Zizzo,
Owner, Zizzo Tailoring, Scottsdale, AZ; Ruksana Azhu
Valappil, Founder and CEO, NEEV, San Jose, CA; Brenda
Balanda, Owner/Broker, Marin Sunshine Realty, Point Reyes
Station, CA; Kae Bender, Founder, SocioEnergetics Foundation,
Lancaster, CA; Neil Blomquist, Managing Director, Natural
Habitats USA Inc., Richmond, CA; Neil Blomquist, Owner,
Sustainable Solutions Consulting, Sebastopol, CA; David
Bronner, CEO, Dr. Bronner's, Vista, CA; Rinaldo Brutoco,
Founding President & CEO, World Business Academy, Santa
Barbara, CA; Sattie Clark, Owner, Eleek Incorporated, Redwood
Valley, CA; Eric Cohen, Owner, Justice Grace Vineyards,
Sonoma, CA.
Thomas Cook, Attorney, Thomas Cook Intellectual Property
Attorneys, Sausalito, CA; Fred Dew, Professional Engineer,
Consultancy, Altadena, CA; Desi Dimitrova, Owner, Dimitrova
Agency, San Dimas, CA; Jerome Dodson, President, Pamassus
Investments, San Francisco, CA; Eric Edelson, CEO, Fireday
Tile, San Francisco, CA; Mika Endo, Operations Manager, Mafia
Bags, San Francisco, CA; Malia Everette, CEO, Altruvistas,
Richmond, CA; Monica Farbiarz, CEO, Encanto Jewels, Grass
Valley, CA; Deborah Frangquist, Owner, Chosen Futures, San
Francisco, CA; Jim Frazin, Principal, Financial Planner,
Communitas Financial Planning Inc., San Francisco, CA; Gary
Gerber, CEO, Sun Light & Power, Berkeley, CA; Michael
Hannigan, CEO, Community Benefit Corporation, Berkeley, CA.
Janie Hoffman, CEO & Founder, Mamma Chia, Carlsbad, CA; Kip
Howard, Former CEO (retired), Navis LLC, Larkspur, CA; Ari
Isaak, Owner, Evan GIS Consulting, San Diego, CA; Donald M.
Johnson, Retired, Architect, Ventura, CA; Bakari Kafele,
Owner, BioDiesel Hauling, San Pablo, CA. Steve Kaye, Owner,
Steve Kaye Photo, Placentia, CA; Dr. Mha Atma S Khalsa,
Owner, Khalsa Chiropractic, Los Angeles, CA; Martin
Kruger, COO, Follow Your Heart (Earth Island), Chatsworth,
CA; Carolyn McMaster, CEO, Thinkshift Communications, San
Francisco, CA; Carolina Miranda, Founder and CEO,
Cultivating Capital, Richmond, CA; Virginia Morrison,
President, Collaboration Specialists, San Anselmo, CA;
Allan Moskowitz, Owner, Transformative Wealth Management,
El Cerrito, CA.
Erin Musgrave, Principal, EMC Strategies, Santa Cruz, CA;
Mark Nelson, Owner, Renaissance Remodelers, San Anselmo, CA;
S. Ostertag, Co-Owner, GLYDE America, Los Angeles, CA;
Jennifer Piette, Founder, CEO, Narrative Food, Chatsworth,
CA; Dylan Pollard, Partner,
PollardBailey, Beverly Hills, CA; Ben
Rosenthal, Owner, Sustainable Computing, Berkeley, CA; Frank
Scarpaci, President, VIANOVA, San Diego, CA; John Schmidt,
Director, Quiksilver, Huntington Beach, CA; Leslie Sheridan,
President, The Added Edge, Clearlake, CA; Michelle Stevens,
Founder & CEO, The Refill Shoppe, Ventura, CA; Donald Taylor,
President, Continental-Pacific Lumber, Gold River, CA; Alan
Thiesen, Vice-President, Digital Research (retired), Nevada
City, CA; Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, President and CEO, Earth
Friendly Products (Makers of ECOS), Cypress, CA; Esther
Wagner, CFO, Excellent Packaging & Supply, Richmond, CA.
James Weil, CEO, Weil Aquatronics, Inc, Norwalk, CA;
Robynne Winchester, Owner, Revelation in Fit, Oakland, CA;
George Yenoki, Owner, Hackberry solutions, Monrovia, CA; Ben
C. Alexander, Certified General Appraiser, Ben C. Alexander
Appraisers, Byers, CO; Carlos Alvarez-Aranyos, Managing
Partner, Boulder Transport, Boulder, CO; Bryan Birsic, CEO,
Wunder Capital, Boulder, CO; Richard Correa, Owner, Richard
Correa Agencies, Aurora, CO; Jenny Davies, Owner, Progressive
Promotions, Denver, CO; Matthew Elliott, Partner, Super
Humane, Denver, CO; Jeffrey Fierberg, CEO, Sora Digital,
Denver, CO; Kathleen Furr, Owner, eXtraOrdinary Gift Company,
Denver, CO; Toby Gadd, President, Nuance Chocolate, Fort
Collins, CO; Kyle Garner, CEO, Organic India USA, Boulder,
CO.
Chris Graves, Owner, Bardo Coffee House, Denver, CO; Sharon
Hwang, Owner, The Wellness Center, Glendale, CO; Heather
Jernberg, Partner, Boreas Group, Denver, CO; John Kuebler,
Owner, Kilgore Books, Denver, CO; Jason Kuri, Founder,
Ionzero LLC, Fort Collins, CO; Craig Lamberty, Owner,
Conscious Coffees, Boulder, CO; Blake Manion, Founder, Soul
Salve, Denver, CO; Stacey Marcellus, Co-Founder & CEO,
Cappello's, Denver, CO; Alicia Marsicovetere, Owner, Renew
Massage Studio LLC, Wheat Ridge, CO; Marilyn Megenity, Owner,
Mercury Cafe, Denver, CO; Allison Parks, Owner/Managing
Broker, Conscious Real Estate, Denver, CO; Chad Schubert,
Director, Business Development, Pivot Energy, Denver, CO;
Julie Tasche, Director of Community and Culture, Illegal
Pete's, Inc., Denver, CO; Pete Turner, Founder/President,
Illegal Pete's Restaurants, Denver, CO; Marie Venner, Owner
and CEO, Venner Consulting, Lakewood, CO; Samuel Weaver, CEO,
Cool Energy, Boulder, CO; Joshua Angelus, Owner, Self-
employed, Waterbury, CT; Jonell Carr, Business Manager,
Exquisite Contractors, Bridgeport, CT.
Nikki Colodny, Owner, Medical Practice, Guilford, CT;
Jenifer Gorin, Founder, Impact Growth Partners, Westport, CT;
Walter Greissle, Accountant, CPA, Stamford, CT; William
Potvin, Owner, Hosmer Mountain Bottling Co., Willimantic, CT;
Nancy Ruzow, Design Director, Ruzow Graphics Inc, Westport,
CT; Margot Dorfman, CEO, U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce,
Washington, DC; Mike Englert, President, Eighty2degrees
Design Studio, Washington, DC; Jeffrey Hollender, CEO,
American Sustainable Business Council, Washington, DC; Pennye
Jones-Napier, Owner & CEO, BBWoof Inc., Washington, DC;
Michael Lastoria, Founder and CEO, &pizza, Washington, DC;
Gloria Nauden, CMO, City First Bank, Washington,
[[Page H7114]]
DC; Thomas Oppel, Executive Vice President, American
Sustainable Business Council, Washington, DC; Michael Peck,
Founder, MAPA Group, Washington, DC; Gina Schaefer, Owner,
Logan, Glover Park, Frager's, Tenleytown, other Ace Hardware
stores, Washington, DC; Aaron Seyedian, Owner, Well-Paid
Maids, Washington, DC; Andy Shallal, Owner, Busboys & Poets
Restaurants, Washington, DC.
Fran Teplitz, Executive Co-Director for Business, Investing
& Policy, Green America's Green Business Network, Washington,
DC; Troy Toliver, Owner, We Buy Houses Nationwide USA,
Washington, DC; Daniel Turner, President, TCG, Washington,
DC; Dr. Kimberly Grimes, Co-Owner, Made by Hand
International, South Bethany, DE; Gabriel Feldmann, Owner,
The Feldmann Agency, Pensacola, FL; Matt Henderson, Owner,
Henderson Agency, Orlando, FL; Orlando Heras, President, The
Royal Gourmet Co., Hollywood, FL; Karen Joslin, Creatrix,
Karen Joslin, Tallahassee, FL; Michelle Martinez, Owner,
Williams-Martinez Agency, Miami Lakes, FL; KathySue McGuire,
Principal, 3 Pillar Solutions, Jupiter, FL; MaryAnn Nelson,
Owner, GQ Solutions, LLC, Jacksonville, FL; Joel Pollock, Co-
Owner, Panther Coffee Roasters, Miami, FL; Natalie Albright,
Owner, RSVP Prom and Pageant, Johns Creek, GA; Toula
Argentis, Owner, 2BWhole Gluten Free Bakery, Alpharetta, GA;
Lisa Bobb, Owner, Squash Blossom Boutique, Decatur, GA;
Kizuwanda Boyd, Owner, Dreams Beauty Experience, Atlanta, GA;
Brian Brock, Managing Partner, Antwerp Diamonds, Roswell, GA;
Douglas Burks, CEO, Burks Jewelers, Atlanta, GA; Rand Cabus,
Owner, Mojo Vinyl Records, Roswell, GA.
Kal Cauthen, Owner, KC Groomer & Beauty Bar, Alpharetta,
GA; Bruce Champeau, President and COO, Room & Board, Atlanta,
GA; Randall Cook, Owner, Cook Agency, Buford, GA; Belon
Durham, Owner, B Lashfull, Atlanta, GA; George Edward, Owner,
The Hair Artists, Sandy Springs, GA; Rick Elibert, Owner/CEO,
Positive Image Barber Shop, Chamblee, GA; Solera Foster,
Owner, Solera's Salon, Sandy Springs, GA; Lola Foxx, Co-
Owner, Foxx Original Jamaican Restaurant, Atlanta, GA;
Phnewfula Frederiksen, Owner, Happy Mango, Atlanta, GA; Saba
Gebrekiedan, Owner, Village Coffee Shop, Atlanta, GA; Brandy
Hall, Founder, Shades of Green Permaculture Design, Decatur,
GA; William Herman, Co-Owner, Raging Burrito, Decatur, GA;
Warren Hudson, Owner, Decatur CD & Vinyl, Decatur, GA; Xavier
Jarque, Owner, Xavier & Sons Auto Body & Paint, Alpharetta,
GA; Ty Jenkins, Owner, Olive Branch Green Beauty, Decatur,
GA; Kyle Johnson, Owner, Johnson Agency, Manetta, GA.
John Kang, Founder and General Manager, Salad Express,
Roswell, GA; Sooill Kim, Owner, Donut Shack, Roswell, GA;
Michael Knight, Owner, Kaboodle Home, Atlanta, GA; RuthE
Levy, Owner, And Thou Shalt Read, Marietta, GA; RuthE Levy,
Owner, Oy Toys, Roswell, GA; Godfrey Lewis, Owner, Avocado
Vegan Cafe, Johns Creek, GA; Brandon Ley, Co-Owner, Georgia
Beer Garden, Atlanta, GA; Brandon Ley, Co-Owner, Joystick
Gamebar, Atlanta, GA; Celestino Loera, Owner, Mr. Tino's Ice
Cream, Roswell, GA; Kathy Mai, Owner, K Hair Salon,
Alpharetta, GA; Johnny Martinez, Co-Owner, Georgia Beer
Garden, Atlanta, GA; Johnny Martinez, Co-Owner, Joystick
Gamebar, Atlanta, GA; Juel McGhee, Owner, Closing Deals LLC,
Atlanta, GA; Irene McGuire, Owner, Christian Print Shop,
Johns Creek, GA; Michael Minga, Owner, Vivid Boutique
Decatur, GA; Nataki Minix Owner, Star Taki Hair Lounge,
Atlanta, GA.
Melissa Moore, Owner, Sq/Ft, Decatur, GA; Zalman Niktalov,
Owner, North Point Upholstery, Roswell, GA; Jeffrey Oparnica,
Owner, Sabbath Brewing, Atlanta, GA; Cliff Owens-Leech,
Please Select, COL Agency, Stone Mountain, GA; Joseph Peta,
Owner, Feather Baby, Decatur, GA; LaKesia Phelps, Owner,
Anna's BBQ, Atlanta, GA; Al Rauf, Owner, Al's European
Barber, Alpharetta, GA; Al Raye, Owner, Clay's Sports Cafe,
Sandy Springs, GA; Robert Rhein, Owner, GBG Market, Atlanta,
GA; Robert Rhein, Owner, The Square Pub, Decatur, GA; Joann
Schwartz, Owner, Kirkwood Feed & Seed Pet Supply, Atlanta,
GA; Joann Schwartz, Owner, Kirkwood Bark & Lounge, Atlanta,
GA; Jason Shadix, Owner, Found Co., Decatur, GA; Sana Shah,
Owner, Sana Beauty Salon, Johns Creek, GA; Lucius Simon,
Owner, 1st Class Barber & Beauty Salon, Atlanta, GA; John
Thompson, Owner, Clothes Horse Men's Apparel & Gifts,
Alpharetta, GA; Lisa Turner, Co-Owner, Trinity Mercantile &
Design, Decatur, GA; Alex Vershkov, Owner, Alex Auto,
Roswell, GA; Lan Vu, Owner, Classic Tailor & Alterations,
Roswell, GA; Debbie Wallace, CEO, 360 Health Broadcasting
Network, Atlanta, GA; Debbie Wallace, CEO, A Full Taste
Restaurant, Decatur, GA; Jamison Weatherspoon, Owner,
Weatherspoon Agencies, Duluth, GA; Darryl Pellegrini, Owner,
Music business, Aiea, HI; Mo Ajram, Owner, Kamal's Inc, Cedar
Rapids, IA; Anthony Albizo, Owner, Flash Screen Printing &
Embroidery, West Des Moines, IA; Steve Anderson, Owner, A-
Kleen Sweep, West Des Moines, IA.
Dina Bachman, Owner, Five Monkeys Inc, Des Moines, IA; John
Bartlett, Owner, i Work & Play, West Des Moines, IA; Mike
Blanchard, Owner, The CORE Cedar Falls, IA; Michael Glenn
Breitbach, Owner, The Food Store, Dubuque, IA; Beth Brown,
Owner, Beth's Custom Cakes, Dubuque, IA; Jesus Castro, Owner,
La Michoacana Mexican Groceries, West Des Moines, IA;
Martavious ``Taye'' Clayton, Owner, House of Fades, Des
Moines, IA; Mel Dameron, Owner, TwinFadez Barber Shop,
Urbandale, IA; Rebecca Davidson, Owner, Dash Coffee Roasters,
Iowa City, IA; Rebecca Davidson, Owner, Dash Coffee Roasters,
Cedar Rapids, IA; Charla Davidson, President, Zebras on 5th,
West Des Moines, IA; Jodi Deery, Owner, Jennifer's on Main,
Cedar Falls, IA; David Deibler, Co-Owner, Octopus, Cedar
Falls, IA; Darrell Delaney, Owner, House of Fades, Des
Moines, IA.
Mike Draper, Owner, Raygun LLC, Des Moines, IA; Mike
Draper, Owner, Raygun LLC, Cedar Rapids, IA; Ann Eastman,
Owner, Miss Wonderful Vintage, Cedar Falls, IA; Kathy and
Herb Eckhouse, Owners, La Quercia, Norwalk, IA; Christopher
Ellis, Co-Owner & Managing Partner, Quarter Barrel Arcade &
Brewery, Cedar Rapids, IA; Hart Epstein, Owner, Bluebird
Diner, Iowa City, IA; Josh Garrett, Owner, Jett & Monkey's,
Des Moines, IA; Robert Guthart, Owner, Bob's Guitars, Cedar
Falls, IA; Lisa Haley, Owner, Ice Cream U Scream, Dubuque,
IA; Kevin Hedley, Owner, Uncle Ike's Music, Dubuque, IA;
Catherine Hickey, Owner, Memory Lane Antiques Gifts
Collectibles, West Des Moines, IA; Suman Hoque, Owner, HOQ
Restaurant, Des Moines, IA; Jacob Jenkins, Owner, Big Acai,
West Des Moines, IA.
Chrissy Jensen, Owner, Domestics, Des Moines, IA; Kevin
Jones, Owner, Subsect Skateshop, Des Moines, IA; Amber
Keppler, Owner, Look @ You, Des Moines, IA; Jorene King,
Owner, Wines of Iowa, West Des Moines, IA; Jay Kozel, Owner,
Back Country, Des Moines, IA; Mike Kunzler, Co-Owner/Art
Director, Kunzler Studios, West Des Moines, IA; Robert
Larson, Owner, Record Collector, Iowa City, IA; Carol Lauber,
Owner, Caboose Stop Hobbies, Cedar Falls, IA; Julie Lewerke,
Owner, Metro Market, West Des Moines, IA; Joseph Logsdon,
Owner, La Mie Bakery, Des Moines, IA; Nicole Lorenson, Owner,
Preservation, Des Moines, IA; Keith Luter, Owner, Head 2 Toe
Barbershop, Cedar Rapids, IA; Delaney Lynch, Owner, Bungalow,
West Des Moines, IA; Allison Lyons, Owner, Rumors, Des
Moines, IA; Adrian Maddox, Owner, Always Good Kutz LLC, Des
Moines, IA; Ellen Martinson, Owner, Leona Ruby, Des Moines,
IA; Ruth McDanel, Owner, Foxglove Chiropractic, West Des
Moines, IA; Natalie Meester, Owner, Little Prairie Girl,
Cedar Falls, IA.
Kristy Meyer, Co-Owner, Carol Ann Boutique & Body, Dubuque,
IA; Nicole Myers, Owner, Polka Dots & Denim, Cedar Rapids,
IA; Lacie Navin, Owner, Your CBD Store Valley Junction, West
Des Moines, IA; Amber Neville, Owner, Willow & Stock, Iowa
City, IA; Tony Nguyen, Owner, T-Tech, Des Moines, IA; Nate
Niceswanger, Owner, ZZZ Records, Des Moines, IA; Michael
Papich, President, Papich-Kuba Funeral Service, Cedar Rapids,
IA; Joan Peiffer, Owner, Peiffer Paws Pet Grooming, Cedar
Rapids, IA; Michael Price, Owner, Price Check Kicks, Cedar
Falls, IA; Kathleen Rash, Owner and President, The Art
Mission, Iowa City, IA; Tray Rochon, Owner, Blades
Barbershop, Des Moines, IA; John Rohlf, Owner, Metro Records,
Cedar Falls, IA; Sheila Sayre, Owner, She Home & Gift, Des
Moines, IA; Barb Schilf, Owner, Mohair Pear, Cedar Falls, IA;
Nate Sherwood, Owner, Eduskate, Cedar Rapids, IA; Bryan
Smith, Owner, Blazing Saddle, Des Moines, IA; Andrew Snyder,
Owner, Andy's Frame Shop, Des Moines, IA.
Kristin Solberg, Owner, Solberg's, Cedar Rapids, IA;
Margeaux Spain, Owner, Margeaux Spain Wellness, Des Moines,
IA; Glen Stillmunkes, Owner, Freddie's Popcorn Co., Dubuque,
IA; Uzma Sultana, Owner, Gyro Hut, Cedar Rapids, IA; Anne
Temple, Owner, Iowa Artisans Gallery, Iowa City, IA; Jennifer
Veak, Owner, T-Shirt Graphix, Des Moines, IA; Victoria
Veiock, Owner, Bing's, West Des Moines, IA; David Wetter,
Owner, C & D Delivery LLC, Dubuque, IA; David Wetter, Owner,
Tavern on the Main, Dubuque, IA; Dena Wright, Owner, Paula's
Cafe, West Des Moines, IA; Stan Yoder, Owner, Stan's Barber
Stylists, Iowa City, IA; ReShonda Young, Founder, Popcorn
Heaven, Waterloo, IA; David Zaghloul, Owner/Chef, Chez Grace,
Coralville, IA; Amanda Zeitner, Owner, Snowwhite Botanicals,
Des Moines, IA; Scot McGavin, Co-Owner, Puentes Language
Programs, Boise, ID; Bill Parks, President and Founder, NRS,
Moscow, ID.
Kathy Stearns, Owner, Arc Advisers, Boise, ID; Ellen
Anderson, President, Rally Insurance Group, Volo, IL; Chuck
Blumenthal, Owner, Bean Products, Inc., Chicago, IL; David
Borris, Owner and President, Hel's Kitchen Catering,
Northbrook, IL; Nancy Brandt, Retired, Investor, Chicago, IL;
James Brandt, Board Member, Ringspann Corp., Franklin Park,
IL; Bruce Champeau, Presidnet and COO, Room & Board, Oak
Brook, IL; Joyce Coffee, President, Climate Resilience
Consulting, Chicago, IL; James Coleman, President, The Metro
Group, Chicago, IL; Elizabeth Colon, President, Metaphrasis
Language & Cultural Solutions, Chicago, IL; Mike Draper,
Owner, Raygun LLC, Chicago, IL; Emily Farr, Owner, Farr &
Farr, LLC, Chicago, IL.
Tim Frick, CEO, Mightybytes, Chicago, IL; Pamella
Gronemeyer, M.D., Owner, SEMC Pathology, Highland, IL; Kate
Jakubas, Founder, Meliora Cleaning Products, Chicago, IL;
Michelle Knox, Founder/President, WindSolarUSA, Springfield,
IL; Kevin Lampe, Co-Founder & Executive Vice President, Kurth
Lampe Worldwide, Chicago, IL; Michael Londo, President, Just
in Time Direction, Glen Ellyn, IL; Emily Lonigro, CEO,
LimeRed, Chicago, IL; Thomas MacRoy,
[[Page H7115]]
Owner, DuPage Psychological Associates, Naperville, IL; Sarah
McGuire, Owner, Sarah McGuire Studio, Chicago, IL; Bob Olson,
President and CEO, Olson Agencies, Lombard, IL; Scott
Pfeiffer, Managing Partner, Threshold Acoustics, Downers
Grove, IL; Michelle Sheldon, President, Eco Promotional
Products, Vernon Hills, IL; Dimitri Syrkin-Nikolau, Owner,
Dimo's Pizza, Chicago, IL.
Lauren Venell, Co-founder & CXO, Joone Creative, Inc.,
Chicago, IL; Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, President and CEO, Earth
Friendly Products (Makers of ECOS), Addison, IL; Kelly
Weinberger, Founder and Co-Owner, WorldFinds, Westmont, IL;
James Cunningham, Owner, James Cunningham Agency,
Indianapolis, IN; Gregg Keesling, President, RecycleForce,
Indianapolis, IN; Deborah Pierce, Managing Partner,
GoodMustGrow, Brownsburg, IN; Becky Reimbold, Owner, Just
Goods, South Bend, IN; Yadrada Alvarez, Owner, Yady Beauty
Salon, Mission, KS; Jon Amyx, Owner, Downtown Barber,
Lawrence, KS; Carl Applequist, Owner, Carl's Salon, Overland
Park, KS; Rashida Bonds, Owner, Beautiful Hair Parlor,
Mission, KS; Brenda Clarke, Owner, The Hair House, Shawnee,
KS; Mike Cole, Owner, The General Store, Overland Park, KS;
Molly Crook, Owner, Essential Goods, Lawrence, KS; Kerry
Doan, Owner, Bombshell Boutique, Mission, KS.
Ken Fleming, Owner, Ken's Swap-d-Shop, Olathe, KS; Marlon
Ford, Owner, For's Barber Shop, Kansas City, KS; Kathy Gates,
Owner, The Running Well Store, Mission, KS; Patricia H.
Goodfriend, Owner, Teal Lotus, Overland Park, KS; Dave
Grigsby, Owner, Parkwood Barber Shop, Kansas City, KS; Carmen
Hinojos, Manager, Las Gorditas Mexican Restaurant, Kansas
City, KS; Dustin Hothan, Owner, CBD of Lawrence, Lawrence,
KS; Angelynn Howell, Owner, Anna's BLD Bistro, Kansas City,
KS; Lewis Hurtt, Owner, Shoe Master, Fairway, KS; Ronell
Jones, Owner, JC Barbershop; Shawnee, KS; Denise Kirk, Owner,
Aunt Jean's, Shawnee, KS; Lane Lambert, Owner, 3 Wishes--
Books, Art, Music, Merriam, KS; Sam Lloyd, Co-owner, Harbor
Leaf Tea Company, Lawrence, KS.
Cole Maggart, Owner, Brothers Music, Mission, KS; Nicole
Manriquez, Owner, Striped Cow, Lawrence, KS; Joey Mendez, Co-
Owner, ULAH, Westwood, KS; Haile Michaels, Owner, Elsa's
Ethiopian, Overland Park, KS; Marilyn O'Hearne, Owner,
Marilyn Oh Executive & Team Coaching, Leawood, KS; William
O'Rourke, Owner, Orange Cat Records, Lawrence, KS; Tracy
Ochester, Owner, Ochester Psychological Services, LLC,
Leawood, KS; Keyla Osuna, Manager, Osuna Bakery, Kansas City,
KS; Dan Phillips, Owner, Vinyl Renaissance, Overland Park,
KS; Ron Phillips, Shop Supervisor, Klemp Electric, Kansas
City, KS; Darby Pool, Owner, Bikes for the Likes of Us,
Olathe, KS; Jenny Pugh, Owner, Lulu's Boutique, Mission, KS;
Jorge Ramos, Owner, Ramos Upholstery, Kansas City, KS; Daisy
Rodriguez, Owner, Oregano & Thyme Market, Mission, KS; Amrik
Sandhu, Manager, Black's Liquor, Kansas City, KS; Dave Seal,
Owner, Framewoods, Lawrence, KS; Ben Stallings, Co-Owner,
Interdependent Web, Emporia, KS.
Sherry Sullivan, Owner, Brian's Bakery, Mission, KS; Sara
Thompson, President, Ceramic Cafe, Overland Park, KS; Tara
Vandervalk, Owner, Radiance: Beautiful Skin, Overland Park,
KS; Teresa Hendricks, Owner, Lucia's World Emporium,
Lexington, KY; Camille Moran, Owner, Caramor Industries; 4
Seasons Christmas Tree and Plant Farm, Natchitoches, LA;
Angela O'Byrne, Owner, Perez APC, New Orleans, LA; Mallory
Whitfield, Owner, Malaprop LLC, New Orleans, LA; Janet
Axelrod, Owner, Wealth Matters, Cambridge, MA; Robert Baker,
President, Key Polymer Corp., Lawrence, MA; Ann Baker, Owner,
On Camera Commercial Coaching, Wayland, MA; Jessie Banhazl,
CEO & Founder, Green City Growers, Somerville, MA; Phil
Bannatyne, Owner, Cambridge Brewing Company, Cambridge, MA;
Ted Barber, Founder, Prosperity Candle, Easthampton, MA; Jeff
Barry, President, Boston Organics, Charlestown, MA; Sam
Barstow, President & COO, Forsake, Boston, MA; Paul Benoit,
Co-Owner, Box Save, Arlington, MA; Andrew Bonfiglio, Co-
Founder, Emzingo, Somerville, MA.
Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, take it from the words of Rebecca
Hamilton, CEO of Badger Balm, a small cosmetic company in New
Hampshire. She said: ``Paying a living wage is a core part of our
culture and has helped us hire and retain excellent staff even in a
time when other businesses have struggled.''
We have heard businesses that started out small, such as the popular
restaurant &pizza, that attribute their fast-growing success to their
practice of paying fair wages while maintaining competitive prices.
Small companies make up 99 percent of U.S. employers, and nearly 70
percent of our economic activity comes from consumer spending.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds
to the gentlewoman from New York.
Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, by raising the minimum wage, we can help
put money back into consumers' pockets, injecting new life into our
Main Street and our economy.
I ask everyone to support this important bill.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.
Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues from Georgia said, the Democrats want
to make the American people think that they, as agents of the Federal
Government, are giving them something by raising this minimum wage.
That is not true.
Small businesses, families, workers, and the economy at large will
all suffer debilitating loss if this bill is passed. Forcing our
Nation's job creators to raise the minimum wage arbitrarily around the
country by 107 percent will hurt the very people this ill-advised
legislation is alleged to help.
The case studies from States and localities with large minimum wage
hikes are clear and have shown that workers and employers are punished
by these risky schemes.
Apparently, House Democrats have missed the fact that wages are
already on the rise. With unemployment near a 50-year low, the
competition for employees is driving wages up.
Instead of stifling our booming economy by forcing employers to
implement a crippling, mandated wage hike, we should advance
legislation that empowers communities, creates opportunities, and opens
doors for workers.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the
gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the chair of the Labor,
Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee
of the Appropriations Committee.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, let's be clear. Since Franklin Roosevelt,
the Federal Government has been increasing the Federal wage.
Don't let them get away with this hogwash about what we do and what
we don't do here.
Wages for the top 1 percent have grown 150 percent since 1979.
Wages for middle-class families and working families have stagnated.
Their wages do not keep up with the skyrocketing costs of healthcare,
prescription drugs, childcare, housing, and a college education.
This is the single biggest economic challenge of our time. So, today,
full-time, year-round work at the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 leaves
a family of three below the Federal poverty line. It is unacceptable,
because working people have more than earned a raise.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, if the minimum wage
increased equal to the increases in workers' productivity, it would be
more than $20 an hour.
Congress needs to make this right. Clearly, my colleagues on the
other side of the aisle do not respect the work of 34 million
Americans. They don't respect the dignity of the work that these folks
do.
It is our job. Let us pass the Raise the Minimum Wage Act. Working
people are doing their jobs. Let us do ours.
I include in the Record a letter from the AFT, the American
Federation of Teachers.
American Federation of Teachers,
Washington, DC, July 17, 2019.
Hon. Robert ``Bobby'' Scott,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Rep. Scott: On behalf of the 1.7 million members of
the American Federation of Teachers, I thank you for
introducing the Raise the Wage Act of 2019 (H.R. 582). By
raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour
by 2024, H.R. 582 would empower millions of struggling
Americans to make ends meet and support their families.
The federal minimum wage was last raised to $7.25 per hour
in 2009, and, over the past decade, the cost of living has
increased at a pace that significantly exceeds the average
earnings of a minimum wage worker. Raising the wage is a
matter of economic and social justice because a $15 minimum
wage would lift millions out of poverty, help close the
racial and gender wage gaps, and help reverse decades of
growing pay inequality.
The Economic Policy Institute estimates that increasing the
federal minimum wage to $15 by 2024 would give more than 1 in
3 working women a raise, including 43 percent of African
American working women, 38 percent of working Latinas, 32
percent of white working women, and 20 percent of Asian and
Pacific Islander working women.
Of particular note for the AFT, our research tells us that
one-fifth of educators and one-fourth of healthcare workers
would get a raise under H.R. 582--including but not limited
to preschool teachers, who on average earn $13.84 per hour;
substitute teachers,
[[Page H7116]]
who average $13.47 per hour; child care workers, who earn an
average of $10.18 per hour; and home healthcare workers, who
on average receive $10.87 per hour. With higher wages, more
Americans would be better able to afford food, clothing,
housing and other necessities, which, in turn, would support
local businesses and economic growth.
Too many hardworking families in the United States are
being forced to depend on poverty-level wages. Congress can
help strengthen our economy and lift families out of poverty
by raising the federal minimum wage.
Thank you for your introduction of H.R. 582.
Sincerely,
Randi Weingarten,
President.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).
Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, let me first thank Chairman Scott
for yielding and for his tireless, incredible, and brilliant
leadership.
I include in the Record a letter from The Leadership Conference on
Civil and Human Rights expressing their strong support for H.R. 582.
The Leadership Conference
on Civil and Human Rights,
Washington, DC, July 15, 2019.
Vote Recommendation: Support the Raise the Wage Act of 2019
Dear Representative: On behalf of The Leadership Conference
on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse
membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote
and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the
United States, we write to express our strong support for the
Raise the Wage Act of 2019 (H.R. 582). This important
legislation would gradually raise the federal minimum wage to
$15 an hour by 2025, index it to median federal wages, and
ensure that all tipped workers, working people with
disabilities, and young people get paid at least the full
minimum wage. Passage of the Raise the Wage Act is a top
legislative priority of our coalition. We urge you to vote
YES on final passage of a clean bill and NO on any Motion to
Recommit (MTR) in connection with this legislation. The
Leadership Conference will score both of these votes in our
voting record for the 116th Congress.
At the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, one
of the founders of The Leadership Conference, Black labor
leader A. Philip Randolph, noted, ``Nor is the goal of our
civil rights revolution merely the passage of civil rights
legislation. Yes, we want all public accommodations open to
all citizens, but those accommodations will mean little to
those who cannot afford to use them.''
This week, the House of Representatives has the opportunity
to champion working people by passing the Raise the Wage Act
of 2019. In February 2019, I testified at a hearing held by
the U.S. House Committee on Education & Labor entitled
``Gradually Raising the Minimum Wage to $15: Good for
Workers, Good for Businesses, and Good for the Economy.''
What I said then remains true today: low-wage working people
are overdue for a raise. For decades, wages for most people
in America have stagnated while productivity has increased.
This has been particularly true for low-wage earners.
Congress has not raised the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an
hour since 2007. And the tipped minimum wage has been stuck
at $2.13 an hour since 1991.
Raising the federal minimum wage is a racial and gender
justice issue. The National Women's Law Center has noted that
women make up nearly two-thirds of those earning the federal
minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Women of color are more likely
than any other group to be paid the lowest wages.
Paying tipped workers the full minimum wage would rectify
longstanding injustices and ensure that no one works for
pennies in America. The subminimum wage that tipped workers
receive is rooted in the history of slavery. The practice of
tipping proliferated in the United States after the Civil War
when the restaurant and hospitality industry, exemplified by
the Pullman Company, ``hired'' newly freed slaves without
paying them base wages. The effect was to create a permanent
servant class, for whom the responsibility of paying a wage
was shifted from employers to customers. Today, poverty rates
for people who work for tips are more than twice as high as
rates for working people overall--with female tipped workers,
especially women of color, at a particular disadvantage.
According to the 2012-2015 ACS data on gender and race for
tipped occupations, of the almost 6 million tipped working
people in our country, 66 percent are women. And women of
color are disproportionately represented in the tipped
workforce.
As with the tipped minimum wage, the subminimum wage under
Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act that allows
people with disabilities working in segregated settings to be
paid less than the minimum wage leaves this community
vulnerable to poverty and exploitation. The National
Disability Rights Network believes that ``sheltered workshops
have replaced institutions in many states as the new
warehousing system and are the new favored locations where
people with disabilities are sent to occupy their days.''
Enacted in 1938, Section 14(c) reflects what should be a
bygone era of how we as a nation treat people with
disabilities. The time has come for federal action to support
and fully integrate people with disabilities into the
workplace.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released a
report looking at the potential effects of increasing the
federal minimum wage to $15 an hour incrementally through
2025 and found that the benefits strongly outweigh its costs.
The CBO report predicted that this gradual increase would
decrease the number of individuals living in poverty by 1.3
million people and disproportionately increase the incomes of
families that are low-income.
The civil rights community has long supported a universal
floor for wages that would provide a base line for all people
in our country. Indeed, one of the core demands of the 1963
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was for ``[a]
national minimum wage that will give all Americans a decent
standard of living.'' Cost of living data show that in all 50
states today a single working person without children
currently needs or will soon need a wage of at least $15 per
hour to cover basic living costs. Working people with
children and those in high-cost states will need even more.
Fair wages are essential for working people to cover basic
expenses like housing, food, transportation, childcare,
health care, and other necessities. We urge you to vote for
clean passage of the Raise the Wage Act of 2019--and against
any MTR that is offered--to address the economic security
concerns of working families. Thank you for your
consideration.
Sincerely,
Vanita Gupta,
President and CEO.
Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this
bill, the Raise the Wage Act. This critical bill would increase the
minimum wage to $15 an hour and give 33 million workers a raise,
including 16 million people of color who are disproportionately paid
poverty wages.
Once more, it would lift 1.3 million Americans out of poverty.
Mr. Speaker, this bill is long overdue. The current minimum wage of
$7.25 is a poverty wage, plain and simple.
I, too, am a former business owner with hundreds of employees who saw
firsthand how productivity was achieved and increased by paying good
wages.
These poverty wages must end for everyone. Homelessness is rising.
People can't afford to pay their rent. They are living on the edge.
No one in the richest nation on Earth should be struggling like this,
working two and three jobs just to survive.
Mr. Speaker, I have been proud to have joined my union brothers and
sisters, along with the attorney general of Minnesota, former co-chair
of the Progressive Caucus, Keith Ellison, and my union brothers and
sisters on picket lines, in rallies, and marches in the fight for $15.
I want to thank them for their bold and committed leadership.
When we fight, we win.
I urge a ``yes'' vote on raising the wage to $15 an hour.
I thank Chairman Scott, again, for his leadership.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire again as to the
time remaining on both sides.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Virginia has 4\3/4\
minutes remaining. The gentlewoman from North Carolina has 1\1/2\
minutes remaining.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney), the vice chair on
the Joint Economic Committee.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong
support of the Raise the Wage Act, which will raise the Federal minimum
wage to $15 per hour by 2025.
I include in the Record a letter signed by many youth organizations
in support of this legislation.
Dear Members of Congress: The undersigned organizations are
writing to express our support for the Raise the Wage Act of
2019, which would incrementally increase the federal minimum
wage from $7.25 to $15.00 over the next 6 years. Beyond
raising the wage, the bill's important provisions include
phasing out the subminimum wages for tipped workers, people
with disabilities, and youth. As organizations committed to
the wellbeing and economic security of young people, we are
united in our goal of ensuring all youth are paid a livable
wage to provide for themselves and their families.
Adults and youth both struggle to make ends meet on today's
minimum wage. Currently, the poverty rate for youth {ages 18
to
[[Page H7117]]
24) is 16.1 percent, which is higher than the national rate
of 12.3 percent. Existing law allows employers to pay youth
under age 20 a subminimum wage of $4.25 for the first 90 days
of their employment. While rarely used, this subminimum wage
prohibits youth from being active consumers in their
communities, saving money, or achieving true economic
stability. The Raise the Wage Act will benefit millions of
low-wage workers by increasing their income to a wage that
would allow them to meet their financial needs.
Youth, like many others in this country, use their wages to
support themselves and their families. For example, young
people use their summer jobs earnings to purchase school
supplies and assist family with buying food and contributing
to college costs. Some use their wages to support their own
children, pay rent, and buy other basic necessities.
According to the Census Bureau, approximately 27 percent of
young adults with children live in poverty. Low wages make it
increasingly difficult for these parents to appropriately
care for their children.
Congress has not raised the minimum wage in over a decade.
Studies show that one in nine U.S. workers are paid wages
that leave them in poverty, even when working full time and
year-round. The economy is leaving too many people behind--
including youth and young adults. Because poverty is
structural and caused by systems and policies--like
discrimination, segregation, and low-quality jobs--
policymakers have an important role in addressing it.
Congress must act to raise the wage because it's the
equitable thing to do for workers and it's a financial
imperative--providing individuals with the means to meet
their basic financial needs. By raising the minimum wage and
eliminating the subminimum wage for youth, Congress would
support young people in becoming more economically secure to
help provide for their families and themselves. We urge
Congress to pass the Raise the Wage Act for the good of our
country's economy and the youth who will play a critical role
now and in our future.
Sincerely,
National Organizations: America's Promise Alliance; Center
for Law and Social Policy; Heartland Alliance; Kaleidoscope
Pathways; Opportunity Youth United; Project Z; SparkAction;
Strive International; YouthBuild USA.
State and Local: Arizona: Opportunities for Youth;
California: KIWA (Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance);
Georgia: Georgia Shift; Louisiana: Dreams are Weapons;
Maryland: Baltimore Algebra Project; New York: City of
Albany, Department of Recreation; Pennsylvania: E5, LLC.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, the minimum wage
has been stuck at $7.25 for the past 10 years. During that time, the
cost of housing, food, childcare, education, all of this has risen
higher and higher, but the minimum wage has been stuck.
This week, the Joint Economic Committee, where I serve as vice chair,
released a report on the Federal minimum wage, and it begins with this
chart. It shows that, in 1968, a full-time worker working year-round at
minimum wage would take home roughly $21,000 a year.
Now, 15 years later, a worker working full-time making minimum wage
earns only $15,000 a year in the same dollars, a loss of over $6,000 in
real 2018 dollars. This is a 30 percent drop.
A full-time worker earning $7.25 minimum wage earns roughly $1,250
per month. That is not enough to cover even half of the monthly
expenses of an average family, which total roughly $3,000. It is not
enough to live on, let alone, to support a family.
Now, some critics say the minimum wage is earned mostly by teenagers,
but that is wrong. More than half of those working at or below the
minimum wage are above 25 years of age.
It ignores the fact that the typical minimum wage worker earns half
of their family's income. As a result, boosting the wage will support
millions of children and families across our Nation.
Workers with more money in their pockets will spend it, stimulating
the economy.
It is important to end the gender gap, because half the people
working for minimum wage are women.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds
to the gentlewoman.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I just want to
applaud the gentleman from Virginia, Bobby Scott, for his selfless and
bold work. He faced many obstacles.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I yield the gentlewoman such time as she may
consume.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I urge a very
strong vote on this to support the minimum wage and to get millions of
workers the raise they so justly deserve. Over 33 million Americans
deserve this raise. This chart shows it all.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I compliment my colleague on
his sense of humor, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), a leader of the Judiciary
Committee.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his
leadership.
This is for the children.
Can you believe that this is a minimum wage increase spanning over 6
years, and you hear my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. This
will allow small businesses to go in gradually and then provide all of
these dollars into the economy.
This is for the children.
I just heard from a mother who works for McDonald's who cannot
provide for her children and is on food stamps.
Mr. Speaker, 41.3 percent of those in my district will benefit in
Texas in the 18th Congressional District. This will help the gender
gap. But more importantly, it will benefit 19 million children whose
parents will get a raise.
It will increase worker productivity by incentivizing people to work
harder; reduce the gender gap, as women make up a disproportionate
share of minimum wage workers; and reduce the rate at which renters
default on their leases by giving families more money to spend on their
household budgets.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record statistics relating to the 18th
Congressional District of Texas.
Texas 18th District
Share of workers affected: 41.3%
Total workers affected: 155,800
Total wage increase for all affected workers (thousands,
2018$): $638,584
Chanqe in avg. annual earnings among all $4,100 year-round
affected workers (2018$): $4,100
Percent change in avg. annual earnings among all year-round
affected workers: 18.6%
Ages 16 to 24--Total workers affected: 41,400
Ages 16 to 24--Share affected: 81.8%
Ages 25 to 39--Total workers affected: 63,900
Ages 25 to 39--Share affected: 41.0%
Ages 40 to 54--Total workers affected: 33,100
Ages 40 to 54--Share affected: 29.4%
Ages 55 or older--Total workers affected: 17,400
Ages 55 or older--Share affected: 29.8%
Men--Total workers affected: 72,000
Men--Share affected: 35.1%
Women--Total workers affected: 83,900
Women--Share affected: 48.5%
Asian or other--Total workers affected: 7,600
Asian or other--Share affected: 29.2%
Black--Total workers affected: 49,100
Black--Share affected: 40.8
White--Total workers affected: 10,000
White--Share affected: 15.7%
Hispanic--Total workers affected: 89,100
Hispanic--Share affected: 53.2%
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, apartment complexes, local stores,
local clothing stores, churches, and nonprofits benefit from the
generosity of individuals who now have a decent wage.
I am standing with working people and unions. I am standing with the
American people and 41.3 percent of my district.
Let us raise the minimum wage. That is the right thing to do. It is
for our children.
Mr. Speaker, as an original cosponsor, I rise in strong support of
H.R. 582, the ``Raise the Wage Act.''
With the passage of this bill, the House of Representatives will take
another step in making good on its commitment to working families and
individuals to put their economic interests and concerns first and
attach the highest priority to making the real economy work for
ordinary Americans who work hard, play by the rules, and are struggling
to get by through no fault of their own.
We Democrats promised to chart a new direction for America if the
voters entrusted us with the majority.
They did and with our votes today in support of H.R. 582, we are
making good on our promise.
Mr. Speaker, before I discuss the importance of this bill in detail,
I wish to commend Chairman Scott, Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader
Hoyer, Majority Whip Clyburn, and the rest of the Democratic
leadership, as well as my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus,
which is led so ably by Congressman Bass.
Because of their resolve and visionary leadership, more than 27
million workers, and as many as 34 million, will soon receive a long
overdue raise.
[[Page H7118]]
What a difference an election makes.
H.R. 582 helps the most deserving American families by raising the
minimum wage from $7.25 to $15.00 over six years, and indexing
increases after that to median wage growth.
Mr. Speaker, did you know that the value of the current minimum wage
represents a 51-year low?
Had the minimum wage kept pace with inflation, it would be $10.15
today, nearly $3 more per hour than it is currently.
If the wages of that worker had kept up with the pace of productivity
growth, the minimum wage would be $19.33, over $40,000 per year.
It is scandalous, Mr. Speaker, that a person can work full-time, 40
hours per week, for 52 weeks, earning the minimum wage and would gross
just $15,000, which is $6,100 below the $25,100 needed to lift a family
of three out of poverty.
In 2018, the average CEO was paid 1,140 times the amount earned
yearly by a minimum wage worker.
Mr. Speaker, since 2009 the cost of college tuition has risen more
than 40 percent and health insurance premiums have skyrocketed by 41
percent.
But during that time, the minimum wage has not increased one cent.
That is unconscionable and downright un-American.
H.R. 582, the Raise the Wage Act, will change this sorry state of
affairs.
Mr. Speaker, today more than ever America's hard-working families are
feeling squeezed, living paycheck to paycheck.
I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that prices at the pump, skyrocketing
health care costs and the rising cost of college in the face of falling
or flat wages, are squeezing hard-working Texans in my Houston-based
Congressional District as they struggle to make ends meet.
That is why I support increasing the minimum wage.
For Texas workers the basic cost of living is rising; it is only fair
that the pay for hard-working Texans does too.
Mr. Speaker, 29 states and the District of Columbia have increased
their minimum wage above the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour, but
regrettably my home state of Texas is not one of them.
For approximately 4.7 million Texans and nearly 155,800 hardworking
persons in the 18th Congressional District of Texas, passage of the
Raise the Wage Act would bring immediate, tangible, and substantial
economic benefits.
Increasing the minimum wage would give these families a much needed
additional $4,100 a year to meet critical needs such as rent, health
care, food and child care.
The increase the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour over the next six
years will not allow workers to live as large as the typical CEO, who
now earns 1,140 times more than a minimum wage worker, but at least it
will allow these low-wage workers to make a little better life for
themselves and their families.
Raising the minimum wage will benefit working families:
1. Benefit 19 million children whose parents will get a raise;
2. Increase worker productivity by incentivizing people to work
harder;
3. Reduce the gender wage gap, as women make up a disproportionate
share of minimum wage workers; and
4. Reduce the rate at which renters default on their leases by giving
families more money to spend on their household budgets.
Increasing the minimum wage will also provide a boost to the economy,
since lower wage workers are more likely than other income groups to
spend extra earnings immediately and researchers estimate that a 10
percent increase in the minimum wage would increase sales by around $2
billion each year.
Mr. Speaker, the earnings of minimum wage workers are crucial to
their families' well-being since the average minimum wage worker brings
home more than half (51.9 percent) of his or her family's weekly
earnings.
Raising the minimum wage helps women and workers of color.
More than 49,000, or 41 percent, of African American workers and
89,100, or 53.2 percent of Hispanic workers in my congressional
district would get a raise under the Raise the Wage Act.
The Raise the Wage Act would substantially increase the purchasing
power of 83,900, or 48.5 percent, of low-wage women workers in my
district.
Since women make up nearly two-thirds of all minimum wage workers,
the Raise the Wage Act would provide the greatest benefit to workers of
color and women.
Single mothers would benefit disproportionately from an increase--
single mothers are 10.4 percent of workers affected by an increase, but
they make up only 5.3 percent of the overall workforce.
Approximately 1.8 million Texas parents with children under 18 would
benefit.
Contrary to popular myths and urban legends, adults make up the
largest share of workers (80 percent) who would benefit from a minimum
wage increase:
More than half (54 percent) of workers who would benefit from a
minimum wage increase work full time and another third (34.5 percent)
work between 20 and 34 hours per week.
Minimum wage increases benefit disadvantaged workers, and women are
the largest group of beneficiaries:
1. More than 23 million (66 percent) of workers who would benefit
from an increase to $15.00 are women.
2. Approximately 11.2 million (28 percent) of workers who would
benefit from an increase to $15.00 are the parents of 14.4 million
children, and of these, 5.4 million (48 percent) are single parents. In
my District in Texas, 41.3 percent of the workers would benefit.
A disproportionate share of persons of color would benefit from a
minimum wage increase:
1. African Americans represent 11.1 percent of the total workforce
but are 15.3 percent of workers affected by an increase.
2. Similarly, 13.4 percent of the total workforce is Hispanic, but
Hispanics are 19.7 percent of workers affected by an increase.
The benefits of an increase minimum wage disproportionately help
those working households at the bottom of the income scale.
Although households in the bottom 20 percent received only 5.1
percent of national income, 38.1 percent of the benefits of a minimum
wage increase to $15.00 would go to these workers.
Thirty-six percent of such workers actually contribute 100 percent of
their family's earnings.
A minimum wage increase would help reverse the trend of declining
real wages for low-wage workers.
Between 2009 and 2018, the minimum wage lost 29 percent of its real
value.
In contrast, between 1989 and 1997, the year it was raised to $5.15,
the minimum wage was raised four times and recovered about one-third of
the value it lost in the 1980s.
Income inequality has been increasing, in part, because of the
declining real value of the minimum wage.
Mr. Speaker, the opponents of the minimum wage often claim that
increasing the wage will cost jobs and harm the economy.
Of course, Mr. Speaker there is no credible to support such claims.
The truth is that following the most recent increase in the minimum
wage in 2009, and the rescue of the economy by President Barack Obama
after the Great Recession, the country went on to enjoy one the more
sustained period of economic prosperity in history.
Mr. Speaker, studies have shown that the best performing small
businesses are located in states with the highest minimum wages.
The job growth for small businesses in states with a minimum wage
higher than the federal level was 9,4 percent compared to a 6.6 percent
growth in states where the federal level prevailed.
So much for the discredited notion that raising the minimum wage
harms the economy; it does not.
But raising the minimum wage helps the economy by increasing the
purchasing power of those who most need the money, which is far more
than can be said of the Republicans' devotion to cutting taxes for
billionaires and multimillionaires.
Mr. Speaker, Americans overwhelmingly side with progressive
principles of rewarding hard work with a living wage.
A post-election Hill-Harris poll found that 82 percent of Americans
favored the hourly minimum wage and a clear majority, 55 percent,
favored increasing the minimum wage to $15.00, while only 14 percent
favored keeping in place the current $7.25 wage rate.
Mr. Speaker, it is time we gave the Americans we represent a long-
over due pay raise by increasing the minimum wage to $15.00 over six
years and indexing future increases to the growth in median wages so
that a full-time worker making the minimum wage can afford the basic
essentials, which is not the case today anywhere in America.
I urge all members to support this necessary and timely legislation.
Vote aye on H.R. 582, the ``Raise the Wage Act.''
{time} 1045
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance
of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I do take offense at anyone who characterizes
Republicans as not caring about children, not caring about women, not
caring about people of color, and not caring about people in poverty.
We care for all people, too, Mr. Speaker, and I want to make that very
clear. We will disagree philosophically, but we care about people, and
we love our fellow Americans.
Democrats continue to point to figures of potential wage increases in
our congressional districts, but not once have they acknowledged that
CBO estimates that as many as three jobs could
[[Page H7119]]
be lost for every one person pulled out of poverty.
So will the Democrats who vote for this bill come to our
congressional districts and answer for the jobs lost?
Will they look at the women and young people and those without a high
school degree who will face the brunt of the job losses from this bill
in our congressional districts?
The harm inflicted by this bill far outweighs the benefits. We should
not inflict that pain on our constituents just to satisfy a far left,
socialist political promise. The economy is growing, wages are rising,
and opportunities are increasing. We should not dampen this progress
with any kind of policy.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this costly, job-killing
bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record letters from the following
organizations in support of the Raise the Wage Act: the National
Employment Law Project, cosigned by 500 other organizations, AFSCME,
the National Women's Law Center, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Under Law, National Urban League, Disability Coalition, healthcare
groups, Interreligious Working Group on Domestic Human Needs, First
Focus Campaign for Children, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice,
Oxfam, Americans for Democratic Action, National Employment Lawyers
Association, and a recent article in Politico by Reverend William
Barber.
National Employment Law Project,
July 15, 2019.
Dear Representative: The National Employment Law Project
(NELP), a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of
workers in low-wage jobs, enthusiastically supports the Raise
the Wage Act of 2019. We urge you to vote Yes on the bill and
No on any Motion to Recommit when the measure comes before
the House later this week.
Last month, our nation marked a shameful milestone when the
longest period passed without an increase since the 1938
enactment of the minimum wage. Nearly ten years have passed
since the last increase to $7.25 on July 24, 2009. The cost
of wage stagnation for workers making wages at or near the
federal minimum wage is inexcusable in a country with the
collective wealth we enjoy and with an economy that is
booming for those who already live comfortable lives.
The Raise the Wage Act will gradually raise the federal
minimum wage to $15 by 2025, gradually eliminate the
subminimum wages for tipped, disabled and youth workers, and
eventually index the minimum wage so that it rises as all
other wages rise.
If signed into law, this Act will not only dramatically
decrease poverty and income inequality. By phasing out
subminimum wages and restoring the value of the federal
minimum wage, this Act will also help address the
systemically lower wages disproportionately affecting people
of color, women and disabled workers as a result of the
structural inequities baked into our current federal minimum
wage policy.
Though opponents of raising the minimum wage will claim
that it will result in job loss, these prophesies of doom
have no basis in fact. Just two weeks ago, a detailed and
rigorous study of minimum wage increases since 2005,
including the first increases that went to $15, demonstrated
that there are no discernable negative effects on employment
or hours worked. Rather, it found that minimum wage increases
lead to substantial declines in household and child poverty.
Further studies show that raising the minimum wage also leads
to a reduction in suicides, a decrease in criminal
recidivism, improved maternal and child health, increased
consumer spending, increased worker productivity, lower
turnover in jobs, and rise in employment of older workers.
It's no wonder that the minimum wage enjoys such broad
popular support, with polling showing 65% for a $15 federal
minimum wage even in battleground Congressional districts.
This bill is a crucial step forward in the move to raise
wages, fight income inequality, reduce poverty, and eradicate
at least some measure of racial, gender and disability
discrimination that is inherent in our federal minimum wage
policy. It is also an important step in making sure that
working people achieve a more equitable share of the rewards
of their labor.
We hope that you will stand with the nearly 35 million
workers who will receive a raise if the Raise the Wage Act is
passed and vote Yes on the bill and No on any Motion to
Recommit that is offered.
Sincerely,
Christine L. Owens,
Executive Director.
____
AFSCME,
Washington, DC, July 15, 2019.
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Representative: On behalf of the members of the
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME), I am writing in support of the ``Raise the Wage Act
of 2019'' (H.R. 582). This legislation would have a critical
impact on millions of workers by gradually lifting the
current federal minimum wage.
The current federal minimum wage rate of $7.25 an hour
makes it very difficult for workers to meet basic family
needs. The last federal minimum wage increase was in 2009.
This unjustifiable delay contributes to wage stagnation in
our country. A full-time minimum-wage worker earning the
federal minimum wage makes barely $15,000 per year. A worker
supporting two kids on an equivalent salary would not even
make enough to reach the poverty level. Taking that into
consideration coupled with the fact that most minimum-wage
jobs rarely include health insurance coverage or child-care
assistance, it should be easy to understand why working
families in America deserve better. As a result of wage
stagnation and income disparity nearly 40 percent of all
American families struggle with basic needs.
Raising the minimum wage lifts the wages of low-wage
workers but also helps to raise the wages of all workers.
H.R. 582 allows for a raise in the federal minimum wage to
$8.55 this year and increases over the next six years until
it reaches $15 an hour at the end of that period.
Subsequently, the minimum wage will adjust each year to keep
pace with growth in typical workers' wages. The legislation
also immediately phases out the outdated subminimum wage for
tipped workers, which has been frozen at a meager $2.13 since
1991 and sunsets the subminimum wage for workers with
disabilities.
Raising the minimum wage will help grow the economy.
Workers who are paid a living wage are more productive, and
more likely to spend their extra earnings immediately.
America needs a raise. AFSCME strongly supports the ``Raise
the Wage Act of 2019.'' The 10-year delay has pushed millions
of working families below the poverty line. Please vote yes
on the bill and no on any efforts to weaken it, including any
motions to recommit.
Sincerely,
Scott Frey,
Director of Federal Government Affairs.
____
National Women's Law Center,
July 15, 2019.
Re: Pass the Raise the Wage Act of 2019
Dear Representative: On behalf of the National Women's Law
Center, I strongly urge you to vote for the Raise the Wage
Act of 2019 when it comes to the House floor, and vote
against any Motion to Recommit, or any amendment that would
limit the scope of the bill or create anything other than a
single, fair, and adequate federal minimum wage for all
working people in the United States. Like the recently passed
Paycheck Fairness Act, the Raise the Wage Act is essential to
advance equal pay for women and economic security for their
families.
Today, women across the country--especially women of
color--continue to experience a pay gap and a higher risk of
poverty than men. Women working full time, year round
typically make only 80 percent of what their male
counterparts make, leaving a wage gap of 20 cents on the
dollar. This wage gap varies by race and is larger for women
of color: Black women working full time, year round typically
make only 61 cents, Native women only 58 cents, and Latinas
only 53 cents, for every dollar paid to their white, non-
Hispanic male counterparts. While Asian American and Pacific
Islander (AAPI) women make 85 cents for every dollar paid to
white, non-Hispanic men, many AAPI communities experience
drastically wider pay gaps.
The Paycheck Fairness Act will address the pay
discrimination, often cloaked by employer-imposed pay secrecy
policies, that is one factor driving these persistent wage
gaps. But women's overrepresentation in low-wage jobs is
another key factor: women are close to two-thirds of the
workforce in jobs that pay the minimum wage or just a few
dollars above it, and more than two-thirds of workers in
tipped jobs. Women of color are particularly overrepresented
among tipped workers and other low-wage workers. And they are
particularly harmed by a $7.25 federal minimum wage that has
not gone up in a decade--and by a $2.13 tipped minimum cash
wage that has been frozen for an astonishing 28 years.
The Raise the Wage Act will raise the federal minimum wage
from $7.25 to $15 an hour by 2025, then index the minimum
wage so that it continues to rise along with wages overall.
It will also end unfair exclusions for tipped workers, people
with disabilities, and youth so that they, too, can benefit
from a decent minimum wage. The Economic Policy Institute
(EPI) estimates that the bill (as introduced) would give
nearly one in three working women a raise, including 41
percent of Black working women, 38 percent of working
Latinas, 29 percent of white working women, and 18 percent of
Asian working women. Because women are the majority of
workers who would see their pay go up, wage gaps would likely
narrow as well; indeed, NWLC research shows that women
working full time, year round in states with a minimum wage
of at least $10 per hour face a gender wage gap that is one-
third smaller than the wage gap across states with a $7.25
minimum wage. And in ``One Fair Wage'' states where employers
already have to pay their tipped workers the regular minimum
wage before tips, the average poverty rate for women tipped
workers is lower--and wage gaps for women overall are
smaller--
[[Page H7120]]
than in states that follow the $2.13 federal standard. One
Fair Wage also ensures that women in tipped jobs have a
paycheck they can count on, making them less vulnerable to
the sexual harassment from customers that women can feel
forced to tolerate when they have to rely on tips for nearly
all of their income.
A $15 minimum wage will make a meaningful difference for
millions across the country who are struggling to put food on
the table, access the health care they need, and support
themselves and their families. But it is still a modest wage
relative to the expenses that women and their families face
every day, no matter where they live in the United States.
According to EPI, by 2025, a single worker without children
will need at least full-time earnings at $15 an hour ($31,200
annually) to meet basic needs, and workers in costlier areas
and those supporting families will need more. By establishing
a $15 federal minimum wage by 2025 and phasing out harmful
exclusions, the Raise the Wage Act gradually reaches a single
wage floor that will benefit working people and our economy
nationwide.
We strongly urge you to reject any amendments or
alternatives that would establish a regional minimum wage at
the federal level, which would leave women of color behind
and cement the wage disparities that the Raise the Wage Act
is critically needed to address. And we urge you equally
strongly to reject any and all carveouts for certain
employers or certain types of employees. Equal pay for women
requires a single, fair, and decent federal wage floor for
all working people across the country--including the tipped
workers, young workers, and workers with disabilities who
have been harmed by exclusionary policies for generations.
Women and people of color have been left behind by our
economy and our policies far too often, for far too long.
Adopting the Raise the Wage Act will mark a vitally important
step toward ensuring they can work with equity, dignity, and
safety. We urge you to pass the Raise the Wage Act on the
House floor and reject any alternative, or any amendments
that would reduce its strength or scope.
Sincerely,
Emily J. Martin,
Vice President for Education
& Workplace Justice.
____
Lawyers' Committee for
Civil Rights Under Law,
July 12, 2019.
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Representative, On behalf of the Lawyers' Committee
for Civil Rights Under Law (hereinafter ``Lawyers''
Committee''), a nonpartisan civil rights organization formed
at the request of President Kennedy to enlist the private bar
in providing legal services to address racial discrimination,
we urge you to vote for H.R. 582, the Raise the Wage Act, and
against any motion to recommit (MTR) the bill. The Raise the
Wage Act is a necessary step to increase the federal minimum
wage, which has remained at $7.25 per hour for ten years, and
phase out the subminimum wage for tipped workers, which has
been frozen at $2.13 for nearly three decades. The Act would
raise wages for millions of workers of color and reverse the
growing trend of pay inequality that disproportionately
impacts African Americans, Hispanics and other people of
color.
The Lawyers' Committee strongly believes the Raise the Wage
Act is an essential step towards reducing pay inequality and
achieving economic security for communities of color. Our
economy has grown immensely over the past several decades,
but wages have not--particularly for people of color. Workers
of color are more likely to be among the working poor, with
African American and Hispanic women respectively making up
10.5% and 9.6%, compared to 4.9% of white women.
Additionally, people of color disproportionately live in
poverty, with 20% of African Americans and 16% of Hispanics
living in poverty compared to 8% of whites. With the Raise
the Wage Act, nearly two-fifths of African Americans and one-
third of Hispanics would receive a raise, lifting many of
these families out of poverty and ensuring they can work with
equity, dignity and safety.
We urge you to vote for final passage of the Raise the Wage
Act and against any motion to recommit because all workers,
especially workers of color, need and deserve adequate wages
to achieve economic security.
Respectfully submitted,
Kristen Clark,
President & Executive Director.
____
July 16, 2019.
The undersigned organizations enthusiastically support the
Raise the Wage Act of 2019, introduced by Senators Bernie
Sanders (VT) and Patty Murray (WA), Representatives Robert C.
``Bobby'' Scott (VA), Mark Pocan (WI) and Stephanie Murphy
(FL).
If enacted, this legislation would:
Gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an
hour in 2025;
After 2025, adjust the minimum wage each year to
keep pace with growth in the typical worker's wages;
Phase out the outdated subminimum wage for tipped
workers, which has been frozen at a meager $2.13 since 1991;
and,
Sunset the much criticized ability of employers to
pay workers with disabilities a subminimum wage through
certificates issued by DOL.
Phase out the subminimum wage for workers under
the age of 20.
At a time when wage stagnation and income inequality pose
serious threats to our families and our economy, the Raise
the Wage Act of 2019 will begin to reverse that cycle and
raise pay broadly across the bottom of the workforce.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, this Act will
deliver long-overdue raises to more than 1 in 4 workers, 90%
of whom are over the age of 20. The average age of workers
who would get a raise is 35, nearly half have some years of
college education. In fact, those who work year-round would
see a raise in the order of $3,000 a year, which is enough to
make a tremendous difference in the life of a preschool
teacher, bank teller, or fastfood worker who today struggles
to get by on around $20,000 per year.
28 percent are working parents with children, and half have
family incomes of less than $40,000 per year. Women make up
nearly 58 percent of the workers who would benefit from a $15
minimum wage, which would be instrumental in helping to close
the gender-wage-gap. Raising the minimum wage to $15 would
also significantly benefit workers of color, with 38 percent
of African American workers and 33 percent of Latinos seeing
a pay increase once this law goes into effect.
These are the frontline workers who make America run--yet
due to the erosion of the real value of the minimum wage over
the last half century, they are struggling even as our
economy enjoys a solid recovery.
The time for the Raise the Wage Act is long overdue, and we
cannot delay in working toward its passage. We call on
Congress to enact this important piece of legislation as
quickly as possible, and for President Trump to sign it when
it comes to his desk.
Sincerely,
9to5; A Better Balance; A Place at the Table; AAUW Texas;
Abortion Care Network; ACCESS Women's Health Justice;
Accessible Housing Resources, Inc. (AHRI); Action Inc.;
Action Together NEPA; ADAPT Montana.
Advocate For Justice Inc.; Advocates for Youth; AFL-CIO;
African American Ministers In Action; Agape Missions, NFP;
AIDS Alabama South, LLC; Alabama Arise; Alameda County
Community Food Bank; Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Inc.;
All Our Kin.
Allegheny Valley Association of Churches; All-Options;
Amara Legal Center; American Association of People with
Disabilities; American Association of University Women;
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME); American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO; American
Federation of Teachers, Washington; American Postal Workers
Union--St Louis Gateway District Area Local; American
Psychological Association.
American Public Health Association; Americans for
Democratic Action (ADA); Anne Arundel County NOW; Appalachian
lndepoendence Center, Inc.; Arizona Center for Economic
Progress; Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families; Asian
Law Alliance; Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO;
Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living;
Association of U.S. Catholic Priests (AUSCP).
ATD Fourth World Movement; Atlanta Community Food Bank;
AtWork!; AUSCP--Association of U.S. Catholic Priests;
Autistic Self Advocacy Network; Autistic Women & Nonbinary
Network; Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law; Bend the Arc:
Jewish Action; Benedictine Sisters of Erie; Black AIDS
Institute.
Black Women's Roundtable; Bread for the World; Bucks County
Women's Advocacy Coalition; CA Capital Chapter--Coalition of
Labor Union Women; California Employment Lawyers Association;
California Food Policy Advocates; Cambridge United for
Justice with Prace; Campaign for America's Future; Campesinos
Sin Fronteras; CAP Services, lnc./Community Assets for
People.
CARECEN-Central American Resource Center; Caring Across
Generations; CASA; CASA of Oregon; Catalyst for Positive
Change!; Catholic Charities of Chemung/Schuyler counties, NY;
Center for Changing Lives; Center for Groveport Madison Human
Needs; Center for Independence of the Disabled, NY; Center
for Law and Social Policy (CLASP).
Center for New York City Affairs at The New School; Center
for Popular Democracy Action; Center for Public Policy
Priorities; Center for Public Representation; Centro de los
Derechos del Migrante, Inc.; ChangeLab Solutions; Chester
County Food Bank; Chicago Chapter of RESULTS, Domestic;
Chicago Jobs Council; Chicago Women's AIDS Project.
Child Care Resources; Children's Defense Fund; Children's
Advocacy Institute; Church World Service; Cities of Peace
Detroit; Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program; Cleveland
Nonviolence Network; CLUW of Southwestern PA; CLUW: NORTHEAST
CLEVELAND CHAPTER; Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence.
Coalition for Low Income Pennsylvanians; Coalition of Black
Trade Unionist--Northern California; Coalition of Labor Union
Women; Coalition of Labor Union Women GPA; Coalition on Human
Needs; Collaborative Center for Justice; Collin County
Democrats With Disabilities (CCDWD); Collin County Voters
With Disabilities; Colorado Center on Law and Policy;
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
Communications Workers of America (CWA); Communities
Creating Opportunity; Community Action Agency of Somerville,
Inc.; Community Action Partnership, NJ;
[[Page H7121]]
Community Advocates of Northern Indiana; Community Labor
United; Community Reinvestment Alliance of South Florida;
Congregation Beth El, Berkeley; Congregation of Our Lady of
Charity of the Good Shepherd, US Provinces; Congregation of
Our Lady of the Good Shepherd, US Provinces.
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes; Congregation of the
Infant Jesus Nursing Sisters of the Sick Poor, Inc.;
Connecticut Association for Human Services, Inc; Connecticut
Legal Services, Inc.; Connecticut Voices for Children;
Cronucopia Community Advocates; CWA Local 6450; D.C. Hunger
Solutions; Dakota Prairie Community Action Agency.
DC KinCare Alliance; DC Language Access Coalition; DC Law
Students in Court; DC Volunteer Lawyers Project; DCAEHS,
Inc.; Delaware Ecumenical Council on Children and Families;
Demos; Disability Law Center; Disability Rights Education &
Defense Fund (DREDF); Disability Voters of Maine.
Disabled in Action of Greater Syracuse Inc.; Disciples
Center for Public Witness (Disciples of Christ); Disciples
Justice Action Network; Dominican Development Center, Inc.;
Dominican Sisters--Grand Rapids; Dominican Sisters of
Houston; DV LEAP; East Central Illinois Community Action
Agency; East Hampton Housing Authority; EcoC2S.
Economic Opportunity Institute; Economic Policy Institute;
Economic Progress Institute; Economic Roundtable; Ecumenical
Poverty Initiative; Educate. Advocate.; Education Equals
Making Community Connections; Equal Pay Today; Equal Rights
Advocates; Equality California.
Equality North Carolina; Estreet Verdors Assiotation Of
Chicago (SVAC); Faith Voices Arkansas; Family Promise of
Greater Des Moines; Family Promise of Knoxville; Family
Values@Work; Farmworker Association of Florida; Feeding
Texas; Feminist Majority; First Christian Church.
First Focus Campaign for Children; First United Methodist
Church; Florida Impact; Food Chain Workers Alliance; Food
Finders Food Bank; Food Lifeline; Food Research & Action
Center (FRAC); For Our Future PA; Freedom Network USA;
Futures Without Violence.
GCC/IBT Local 24M/9N; Gender Justice; GLBTQ Legal Advocates
& Defenders (GLAD); Global Justice Institute, Metropolitan
Community Churches; Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens College,
CUNY; Good Jobs Nation; GRANDS AS PARENTS INC; Greater Kansas
City Coalition of Labor Union Women; Greater New Jersey CLUW
Chapter; Greater Oklahoma City Chapter CLUW.
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank; Grey Nuns of the
Sacred Heart; H.O.P.E.; HANA Center; Hawaii Appleseed; Head
Start; Headstart; HEAL Trafficking; Healthy and Free
Tennessee; HEAR US Inc.
Hill Snowdon Foundation; Hispanic Federation; Holy Cross
Ministries; Housing Authority of the County of Lawrence;
Housing Choice Partners; Howard Brown Health; Hudson County
Housing Resource Center; Humanity; Hunger Action Network of
NYS; Hunger Free Vermont.
Hunger Solutions New York; Idaho Interfaith Roundtable
Against Hunger; IHM Sisters IHM Sisters Justice, Peace and
Sustainability Office; lllinois Hunger Coalition; Illinois
Collaboration on Youth; Impact Fund; In Our Own Voice:
National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda; Indiana
Community Action Association; Indiana Institute for Working
Families; Indivisible Michigan 8th--Ingham.
Inspirational Gospel Assembly; Interfaith Impact of New
York State; Interfaith Worker Justice; International Labor
Rights Forum; International Union, United Automobile,
Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America,
UAW; Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement; Iowa Coalition
Against Domestic Violence.
____
[From Politico, July 17, 2019]
The Racist History of Tipping
(By Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II)
This week, the House of Representatives will have a chance
to end a pernicious legacy of slavery. Lawmakers will vote on
the Raise the Wage Act, which would boost the minimum wage
across the country to $15 an hour by 2024. This would be a
crucial step toward the first federal minimum wage increase
in more than a decade.
A just-released Congressional Budget Office report finds
that a $15 minimum wage would have tremendous benefits for
low-wage workers of all races and ethnicities. Yet the stakes
are particularly high for black workers. The share who would
benefit from the Raise the Wage Act is far larger than the
share of white workers who would benefit--38 percent compared
with 23 percent.
There's another provision in the legislation--eliminating
the subminimum tipped wage--that corrects a wrong that goes
much further back than the previous federal minimum wage
increase. For workers regularly making more than $30 a month
in tips, employers can currently pay as little as $2.13 an
hour. That subminimum wage has been frozen at this level for
decades. Should the Raise the Wage Act pass the House, it
will mark the first time that either chamber of Congress has
moved to eliminate the subminimum wage, which not only
deepens economic inequalities but also happens to be a relic
of slavery.
You might not think of tipping as a legacy of slavery, but
it has a far more racialized history than most Americans
realize. Tipping originated in feudal Europe and was imported
back to the United States by American travelers eager to seem
sophisticated. The practice spread throughout the country
after the Civil War as U.S. employers, largely in the
hospitality sector, looked for ways to avoid paying formerly
enslaved workers.
One of the most notorious examples comes from the Pullman
Company, which hired newly freed African American men as
porters. Rather than paying them a real wage, Pullman
provided the black porters with just a meager pittance,
forcing them to rely on tips from their white clientele for
most of their pay.
Tipping further entrenched a unique and often racialized
class structure in service jobs, in which workers must please
both customer and employer to earn anything at all. A
journalist quoted in Kerry Segrave's 2009 book, Tipping: An
American Social History of Gratuities, wrote in 1902 that he
was embarrassed to offer a tip to a white man. ``Negroes take
tips, of course; one expects that of them--it is a token of
their inferiority,'' he wrote. ``Tips go with servility, and
no man who is a voter in this country is in the least
justified in being in service.''
The immorality of paying an insufficient wage to workers,
who then were forced to rely on tips, was acknowledged at the
time. In his popular 1916 anti-tipping study, The Itching
Palm, writer William Scott described tipping as an
aristocratic custom that went against American ideals. ``The
relation of a man giving a tip and a man accepting it is as
undemocratic as the relation of master and slave,'' Scott
wrote. ``A citizen in a republic ought to stand shoulder to
shoulder with every other citizen, with no thought of
cringing, without an assumption of superiority or an
acknowledgment of inferiority.''
Several states sought to end the practice in the early
1900s, often in recognition of its racist roots. But the
restaurant industry fought back and was powerful enough to
roll back local bans on tipping. And tipped workers--along
with most others, as the act applied to industries that
together made up only one-fifth of the labor force--were
excluded from the first, limited federal minimum wage law
passed in 1938.
It took until 1966 for advocates to win a base wage for
tipped workers, and that amounted to only 50 percent of the
minimum wage already guaranteed to other workers. Congress
continued to raise the subminimum tipped wage until 1996,
when Herman Cain, who headed the National Restaurant
Association at the time, offered legislators a bargain: The
industry would accept a small increase in the minimum wage as
long as the tipped wage was frozen at $2.13 an hour.
Congress agreed to the deal, and the tipped minimum wage
remains just $2.13 to this day. Employers are supposed to pay
the difference if tips don't bring workers to the full
regular minimum wage. But too often that law is not enforced.
When the Department of Labor conducted an unusual compliance
sweep of 9,000 full-service restaurants between 2010 and
2012, they found that 84 percent had violated the subminimum
wage system.
A century later, the industry lobby continues its fight to
uphold this two-tiered pay system. Where social movements
have gotten cities to pass minimum wage hikes, the lobby has
pressured state legislatures to ban local wage increases
altogether. The industry also fought to overturn voter-
approved initiatives in Maine and Washington, D.C., that
would have ended the subminimum tipped wage, while they
lobbied legislators in Michigan to keep the issue from
reaching the ballot in the first place.
That's why national action to finally reverse this
particular vestige of slavery is so vital. No one can live on
$2.13 an hour--a poverty wage.
We may live in a very different society from 150 years ago,
but the subminimum tipped wage still exacerbates the
inequalities passed down from that time. Workers in the
restaurant industry are far more likely to be poor or near-
poor than the general population. Sure, upscale restaurants
where wealthy patrons offer servers good tips on expensive
menu items can provide a good living, but those jobs are few
and far between--and dominated by white men.
Research also shows that tipping itself has a racial
component: Customers generally give white workers bigger tips
than black workers, regardless of service quality. Thanks in
part to segregation within the industry and discrimination
from patrons, restaurant worker poverty rates are highest for
women and people of color.
Ending the subminimum wage would right one of the
historical wrongs keeping certain groups of workers from
receiving the full protections they are due, but ultimately,
low wages driven by racism hurt workers of all races. Three
times as many white workers as black workers stand to get a
raise if the federal minimum wage hike passes. Undoing
systemic racism opens up opportunities for all people.
With a Republican Senate and president, the Raise the Wage
Act might not become national law in the immediate future.
But a vote by the House to end the subminimum tipped wage
would send an unmistakable signal to the several states
considering similar legislation: The days of these racist
tiered wage systems are coming to an end.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Will the Chair please tell me how much time is
remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has 1\1/2\ minutes remaining.
[[Page H7122]]
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I would just like to say that
youth workers--we have heard about youth workers--should not be paid
less for the same work than anyone else. Several of my colleagues have
pointed out that there may be a $9 billion loss in income. According to
the CBO, that comes from families making more than $232,000 a year.
Families making less than that will get an increase in pay.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all of my colleagues, including members
of the Committee on Education and Labor and Representatives across the
Nation who have been instrumental in advancing this legislation. But
most of all, I want to recognize the workers in communities across the
country who stood up and demanded a fair day's pay for a fair day's
work. There are some of them with us today, the Fight for $15 workers,
the SEIU workers, and others from across the country.
I also want to acknowledge a broad coalition of business support,
including Business for a Fair Minimum Wage and the U.S. Women's Chamber
of Commerce.
Proposals to increase the minimum wage are always met with the same
baseless predictions we have heard today. Opponents cried wolf in the
1930s, and we should not fear the impact of putting money in workers'
pockets or, as President Roosevelt said in a fireside chat way back in
1938: ``Do not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of
$1,000 a day . . . tell you . . . that a wage of $11 a week is going to
have a disastrous effect on all American industry.''
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to take that advice, pass the Raise
the Wage Act and give a raise to 33 million Americans. It is a raise
that is long overdue.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. CUELLAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the importance of
raising the minimum wage for millions in our country. This important
legislation raises the wage for 45 percent of workers in my district,
and provides a wage increase of nearly $640,000.
The Raise the Wage Act will indeed lift thousands of my constituents
out of poverty and provide opportunity for economic mobility. However,
I would like to highlight the work I have done on this legislation to
make it more amenable to small, family owned businesses.
While I certainly acknowledge that every day Americans deserve a
raise, we in Congress must be above rhetoric and talking points. With
such a significant change proposed to the minimum wage, this must be
carried out in a precise, tactful manner. As of June of this year, the
unemployment rate in the United States is a mere 3.7 percent. It is
critical that policies we pass through this House do not interrupt or
deter this economic prosperity.
Furthermore, while I support this important legislation, we must
consider how it will affect small businesses and their economic
futures. Therefore, I have negotiated with the Committee a provision to
lengthen the phase in period to $15 minimum wage until the year 2026.
Additionally, I am a co-sponsor of the O'Halleran Amendment. This
amendment will require a comprehensive GAO report on national and
regional economic impacts of the minimum wage increases in this bill.
The report will have a special focus on small business and agricultural
sectors. It will facilitate Congress' ability to make policy changes
based on the actual economic effects of this legislation.
Lastly, I submitted two amendments that exempt local and small farms,
as well as small businesses from the $15 minimum wage. These amendments
delayed the minimum wage from reaching $15 until the year 2029, as well
as kept the current ``tipped-wage'' provision for restaurant workers. I
also sought to create a small business tax credit, along with providing
two additional years to comply with a doubling of the federal minimum
wage.
By providing tax credits, compliance exemptions, and a longer runway
to $15, my amendments intended to give small businesses the tools they
need to thrive in the economy this bill will create.
I was disappointed that my amendments were not included in this
measure, but will work for their inclusion elsewhere given the vast
economic benefits that small businesses provide in my community, and
around the country. There are over 30 million small businesses in the
United States today. Additionally, there are 24.3 million individually
operated businesses with no employees. Small businesses employ over 60
million Americans--nearly half of the private workforce--and there are
now over 287,000 small business exporters.
The United States small business community contributes approximately
$8.5 trillion to the economy, roughly half of the United States total
$17 trillion GDP.
Small businesses are the back bone of our country, and the engine
that drives our economy. While I will vote in favor of this
legislation, I hope to have my amendments incorporated as this bill
moves through the legislative process. I include them for the Record.
Passage of this act is simply the first step. As this legislation
heads over to the Senate, I look forward to working with my friends to
improve this bill and ensure further small businesses provisions are
included, as well as with my colleagues in the House on future
legislation that would help address these concerns.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the time to recognize the importance of
small businesses to our great nation, and the need to pay Americans a
living wage.
Amendment to H.R. 582, as reported
Offered by Mr. Cuellar of Texas
Strike section 3 and insert the following new section:
SEC. 3. MINIMUM WAGE FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.
Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(i) Small Business Minimum Wage Rate.--With respect to an
employer that is a small business concern (as defined in
section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), except
as otherwise provided in this section, the wage in effect
under subsection (a)(1) shall be--
``(1) $9.00 an hour during the calendar year 2019;
``(2) $9.50 an hour during the calendar year 2020;
``(3) $10.00 an hour during the calendar year 2021;
``(4) $10.50 an hour during the calendar year 2022;
``(5) $11.00 an hour during the calendar year 2023;
``(6) $11.50 an hour during the calendar year 2024;
``(7) $12.00 an hour during the calendar year 2025;
``(8) $12.50 an hour during the calendar year 2026;
``(9) $13.00 an hour during the calendar year 2027;
``(10) $13.50 an hour during the calendar years 2028, 2029,
and 2030; and
``(11) $15.00 an hour during the calendar year 2031 and
each year thereafter.''.
Add at the end the following new section:
SECTION ___. MINIMUM-WAGE EMPLOYEE CREDIT FOR SMALL
EMPLOYERS.
(a) In General.--Subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of
chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 45T. MINIMUM-WAGE EMPLOYEE CREDIT FOR SMALL EMPLOYERS.
``(a) In General.--For purposes of section 38, in the case
of an eligible small employer, the minimum-wage employee
credit for a taxable year determined under this section is an
amount equal to $200 for each minimum-wage employee of the
employer.
``(b) Limitation.--The amount of the credit determined
under subsection (a) for any taxable year shall not exceed
$10,000.
``(c) Eligible Small Employer.--For purposes of this
section--
``(1) In general.--The term `eligible small employer' means
an employer with not more than 50 employees.
``(2) Aggregation and other rules.--For purposes of this
section--
``(A) Aggregation rules.--All employers treated as a single
employer under subsection (b), (c), (m), or (o) of section
414 shall be treated as a single employer.
``(B) Other rules.--Rules similar to the rules of
subsections (c), (d), and (e) of section 52 shall apply.''.
(b) Credit to Be Part of General Business Credit.--Section
38(b) of such Code is amended by striking ``plus'' at the end
of paragraph (31), by striking the period at the end of
paragraph (32) and inserting ``, plus'', and by adding at the
end the following new paragraph:
``(33) in the case of an eligible small employer (as such
term is defined in section 45T, the minimum-wage employee
credit determined under section 45T(a).''.
(c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart
D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is
amended by adding at the end the following the item:
``Sec 45T. Minimum-wage employee credit for small employers.''.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to taxable years ending after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
____
Amendment to H.R. 582, as Reported
Offered by Mr. Cuellar of Texas
Add at the end the following:
SEC. __. AGRICULTURE EXEMPTION.
Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made under this Act,
shall be construed to repeal or alter the exemption under
section 13(a)(6) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29
U.S.C. 213(a)(6)).
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support the
Raise the Wage Act that raises the federal minimum wage to $15, This
bill is smart federal policy that will improve the lives of workers and
their children
[[Page H7123]]
across the nation, helping them pay their bills, support their
children, and grow our economy via their increased spending power.
Many do not remember that--from the outset--the intent was that the
minimum wage should be a livable wage, The federal minimum wage was
part of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; critical legislation
supporting workers and children by setting a federal minimum wage,
requiring time-and-a-half pay, and banning the atrocity of child labor
in factories. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt even said, ``It seems
to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence
on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to
continue in this country . . . and by living wages I mean more than a
bare subsistence level--I mean the wages of decent living.''
At a time in our country when the wealth gap is appallingly large, I
am proud that the Democratic Leadership is prioritizing a livable wage.
For over a decade millions of hardworking Americans worked full-time
making just $7.25 an hour. Tipped workers, teen workers, or workers
with disabilities have made even less. Current law allows tipped
workers to make just $2.13 an hour plus tips, allows teen workers to be
paid just $4.25 an hour for their first 90 days, and allows a
subminimum wage for people with disabilities, unjustly denying them the
equal pay that they deserve. Men and women throughout the nation work
full-time yet remain trapped in poverty by their low-wages. According
to the American Association of University Women, a single mom raising
two kids while working a full-time minimum wage job earns only about
$14,500 or $5,000 below the poverty line. Clearly, the current minimum
wage is not a living wage but a policy that systematically grows the
divide between the poor and the secure, creating barriers for low-
income workers to break out of poverty.
The minimum wage increase in this bill will help close the wage gap
that women--especially African-American and Latina-American women--face
due to their disproportionate overrepresentation in tipped employment.
Raising the minimum wages also will reduce child poverty. According to
the Economic Policy Institute, the increased minimum wage will give
raises to 41 million women, 28 percent of whom have children.
As many may know, helping low-income workers is a primary legislative
priority for me. In my District, almost 31 percent of children live in
poverty and half of those children live in extreme poverty, Further, 25
percent of the tax filers in my district are low-income working
parents. I see the challenges that these children and their families
face first hand. They are hard-working and incredible people trying to
better themselves.
I reject opponents' arguments that increasing the federal minimum
wage will eviscerate jobs. I know first-hand the benefits of an
increased minimum wage because the minimum wage in the City of Chicago
is $13 an hour, much higher than the federal wage of $7.25. According
to the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, the transition to this wage
had no impact on the employment rate nor did it negatively affect
private businesses. Rather, the higher minimum wage created a higher
demand by low-income households for employment. Given the positive
outcomes from raising the minimum wage in Chicago and given state-wide
economic needs, Governor J.B. Pritzker and our state legislators just
raised the state minimum wage to $15--making Illinois, D.C., and five
other states national leaders in providing livable wages for their
workers. Our new law will help almost 1.4 million Illinoisans currently
making less than $15 an hour, lifting thousands out of poverty and
growing our economy at the same time.
Now today as a Congressman, I proudly cast my vote in support of
raising the federal minimum wage to strengthen workers, families, and
our economy.
Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 582.
This bill is yet another overreaching power-grab from Washington.
Missouri voters already decided to raise their minimum wage last year.
However, now the federal government believes it knows better than the
states and wants to force a one-size-fits-all policy on all Americans.
Unfortunately, this policy will cost 3.7 million jobs nationwide, and
would cause nearly half of families with a minimum wage earner to see a
reduction in household income.
Even more concerning, H.R. 582 contains a provision to remove choices
for disabled workers and their families. Section 6 of this bill would
eliminate the 14(c) certificates which enable Sheltered Workshops to
operate.
Sheltered Workshops are non-profit, local, or state organizations
that provide dignified employment opportunities for individuals who are
developmentally, physically, or mentally impaired. These opportunities
are enabled by the 14(c) certificates which allows individuals to be
paid a wage commensurate with their ability level. Sheltered Workshops
also provide the necessary tools for those with disabilities to succeed
in their jobs and can help these individuals acclimate to the
workforce, and even learn and hone their life and social skills. The
level of training and support provided by Sheltered Workshops is
essential to the success of the individuals who work there.
No family wants fewer options when deciding how to help their child
with disabilities succeed. That is why the 14(c) provision and the
Sheltered Workshops provide more options, especially for those who may
not ``fit'' or desire Vocational Rehabilitation services or Medicaid
Waiver services. Without the 14(c) provision, many of the people
working in sheltered workshops would be left to fend for themselves in
the ``competitive workforce'' or stay home. The 14(c) provision is
necessary for providing these individuals the tools they need to
succeed.
That is why I submitted an amendment to strike Section 6 from H.R.
582. Unfortunately, my amendment was not made in order which is one
more reason why I must oppose this flawed legislation. Let's defeat
this bill and preserve job choices for Americans.
Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R.
582, the Raise the Wage Act. We must advocate for an increase in the
minimum wage, as stagnant wages impede economic mobility and are a
detriment to our nation's working class.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the current minimum wage
places nearly 78,000 Texans at this unlivable income, while 118,000
Texans earn even less. The Raise the Wage Act will result in a
significant increase in the average annual earnings for Texans. In my
home district, this figure is estimated to increase by 18.2 percent,
which will make an immeasurable different in our communities.
Many people in my district are forced to work multiple jobs for long
hours to ensure food is on the table for their families. This
legislation will eliminate this burden on our working-class families.
The economy may be growing, and wages may be rising, but the benefits
of economic and wage growth are not felt equally. Individuals working
40 hours a week should be able to afford the basic necessities for
themselves and their family.
I proudly stand in this chamber as a cosponsor of H.R. 582, the Raise
the Wage Act. I urge my colleagues on both sides to join me in voting
for this legislation to promote economic freedom and equity for all
Americans.
Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R.
582, the Raise the Wage Act, a bill that would radically improve the
lives of millions of Americans.
For ten years, the longest period in United States history, workers
have suffered as the federal minimum wage stayed the same as inflation
rose. With the same wages and rising prices, workers essentially
received a 17 percent pay cut. That's unacceptable, and it's about time
we give American workers a raise.
Americans are working just as hard as any generation, and yet, they
are receiving less than their parents and they are struggling to afford
basic necessities and claim their share of the American dream.
Nationwide polls show that Americans support raising the minimum wage
across geographic and party lines.
Georgia's Second Congressional District, which I represent, is one of
many that would be most impacted. 43 percent of workers would receive a
wage increase. A majority of these workers are women and people of
color, who are disproportionately affected by poverty. The largest age
group that would benefit are those between the ages of 25 and 39.
Nationally, raising the minimum wage to $15 would lift 1.3 million
Americans out of poverty, including 600,000 children. Poverty has
devastating effects on families, and studies have shown children born
into poverty have greater difficulties succeeding in the future.
Mr. Speaker, Americans work hard and should be able to support
themselves and their families. This bill is modest and gradual, giving
businesses plenty of time to adjust. Raising the minimum wage is simply
another way to help our constituents improve their lives and boost the
economy.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate on the bill has expired.
Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. O'Halleran
Mr. O'HALLERAN. Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
In the header of section 8, strike ``GAO Report'' and
insert ``GAO Report on the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands''.
Add at the end the following new section:
SEC. ___. GAO REPORT ON WAGE INCREASE IMPACT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days before the date of
the third wage increase to first take effect after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General, in
consultation with the persons described in subsection (b),
shall prepare and submit to Congress a report, that--
[[Page H7124]]
(1) identifies and analyzes the effects, in the aggregate,
of the first wage increases and second wage increases after
such date of enactment on business enterprises (including
small business enterprises) including the effects, with
respect to such enterprises, on--
(A) the wages and compensation of employees;
(B) the number of employees, disaggregated by full-time and
part-time employees;
(C) the prices, sales, and revenues;
(D) employee turnover and retention;
(E) hiring and training costs; and
(F) productivity and absenteeism;
(2) to the extent practicable, identifies such effects in
isolation from other factors that may affect business
enterprises (including small business enterprises),
including--
(A) broader economic conditions;
(B) changes in Federal, State, and local law, policy, and
regulation;
(C) industry consolidation;
(D) natural disasters; and
(E) significant demographic changes;
(3) to the extent practicable, identifies and analyzes such
effects for the Nation as a whole, and, separately, for--
(A) each census division, as designated by the Bureau of
the Census;
(B) each metropolitan statistical area and nonmetropolitan
portion (as such terms are defined by the Office of
Management and Budget with respect to 2013); and
(C) each urbanized area, urbanized cluster, and rural area,
as designated by the Bureau of the Census; and
(4) describes the methodology used to generate the
information in the report.
(b) Expert Consultation.--The persons described in this
subsection are--
(1) labor economists with expertise in minimum wage and low
wage labor markets;
(2) workers (including agricultural workers), and the labor
organizations and worker groups representing such workers;
(3) representatives of businesses, including small
businesses, agricultural employers, and businesses in the
accommodation and food services sector;
(4) State and local governments; and
(5) the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
(c) Congressional Assessment and Recommendations.--Not
later than 60 days after the date on which Congress receives
the report under subsection (a), Congress shall--
(1) assess the findings of such report; and
(2) make recommendations with respect to actions of
Congress to address the findings of such report, including
actions to delay the next scheduled wage increases.
(d) Wage Increase Defined.--The term ``wage increase''
means an increase in wages that takes effect under subsection
(a)(1) or (g)(1) of section 6, section 3(m)(2)(A)(i), or
section 14(c)(1)(A) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
(29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), as amended by this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 492, the
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. O'Halleran) and a Member opposed each will
control 5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.
Mr. O'HALLERAN. This prudent, commonsense amendment is necessary to
ensure that once this legislation is passed, it has the positive
effects we intended. I strongly support the Raise the Wage Act, and I
believe it will positively impact communities nationwide and lift
families out of poverty.
The State of Arizona and my constituents in the First District voted
overwhelmingly to raise the minimum wage in 2016. It is currently $11
an hour. During this implementation of this minimum wage increase,
Arizona has seen a 4.3 percent growth in State GDP--the third fastest
growing economy in the Nation. We have seen in Arizona that increasing
the wage pays off for our economy and our families.
My amendment will only strengthen the underlying bill. It requires
independent, objective analysis of the economic and employment impacts
of this legislation. It would require the Government Accountability
Office to submit a report to Congress on the effects of the first two
wage increases in the legislation.
Specifically, the GAO must report on the effects on small businesses
and on wages and compensation. The report also includes an analysis of
the law's effects on urbanized and rural areas.
Importantly, this amendment would require the GAO to consult various
stakeholders and experts when developing its report. These would
include small business owners, labor economists, agricultural workers,
the food service industry, and State and local governments.
It would allow constituents to provide their input on how their
families, businesses, and communities have been affected.
This thoughtful, data-driven approach will allow us to see the real
impacts of this legislation.
I believe as lawmakers we do the best job of responding to the needs
of our constituents when we are best informed.
I want to thank the cosponsors of the amendment and the Education and
Labor Committee for working with us and the Rules Committee for making
this amendment in order.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I claim the time in
opposition to the amendment.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as
I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, a hot economy is leading to higher wages. There are 7.3
million unfilled jobs which puts all workers in a good position to
receive higher wages, and we have seen robust wage growth for nearly a
year in all categories. Unfortunately, this amendment does nothing to
prevent the negative impacts of H.R. 582.
Calling this amendment a fig leaf is an insult to fig leaves.
First, the amendment requires that GAO study only--only--the effects
of the first two of the seven wage hikes in H.R. 582, rather than the
actual effect of the bill which is increasing the minimum wage by 107
percent to $15 an hour and indexing the wage rate forever after that.
As my colleagues well know, the first two wage hikes in the bill will
not be as damaging as the increase to $15. So the results of the
proposed GAO study are rigged to avoid use the damaging 107 percent
hike as the appropriate benchmark.
Second, this amendment has no teeth. It merely says that Congress can
make recommendations after the first two wage hikes have gone into
effect. Give me a break. But there is no requirement that Congress do
anything in response to these recommendations, and there is no fast-
track authority in this amendment.
Third, we already have in our possession a recent detailed and highly
credible study of the effects of a 107 percent wage hike to the current
Federal minimum wage. With regard to GAO's studies, at the Education
and Labor Committee markup of H.R. 582 in March, Chairman Scott already
dismissed the effectiveness and conclusions of a potential GAO report
that might show jobs lost.
Explaining his opposition to a proposed GAO study, Mr. Scott said,
This amendment suggests that there will be job loss. All of the studies
show otherwise.
I urge my colleagues to see this amendment for what it is: an attempt
to provide political cover to Democrat Members who are justifiably
concerned about the negative impact of a $15 Federal minimum wage in
their districts.
Vote ``no'' on this amendment and ``no'' on H.R. 582.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. O'HALLERAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Cox).
Mr. COX of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of
our amendment to the Raise the Wage Act. I joined this amendment to
look out for the small businesses and the agricultural businesses that
are so vital to the Central Valley of California and to our Nation.
The minimum wage has not been raised since 2009. In the decade since,
due to inflation and rising costs, the paychecks of millions of
hardworking Americans naturally don't go as far as they used to.
Every worker deserves a living wage, and this amendment ensures that
we can give at least 17 million Americans a raise while also protecting
farms and small businesses. We do this by requiring the Government
Accountability Office to analyze and produce a study of the impact of
the first two scheduled wage increases on our Nation's small
businesses, our agriculture industry, and our workers.
The study will consider the specific effects of raising the minimum
wage in each Census tract and rural area, so families, like those I
serve in the Central Valley of California, aren't left behind.
If we find the negative impacts are too great, the relevant
committees are required to make recommendations to Congress which may
include actions
[[Page H7125]]
necessary to delay the next scheduled increases, if necessary.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, the
chairman of the Education and Labor Committee already has a low opinion
of these types of studies, and his mind is made up about a $15 Federal
minimum wage.
This amendment sets up a rigged process in which House Democrat
leaders who already support a 107 percent hike will decide whether to
move forward with it. There is no doubt how they will decide.
Congressman Grijalva agrees with Chairman Scott. He is quoted in a
July 15 article in The Hill regarding the amendment's proposed study:
``It's almost perfunctory. Look what we did. So I don't think it's
consequential. But I don't think it's needed, either.''
Mr. Speaker, this amendment is not necessary. Let the Democrats vote
for the $15 wage hike and take the consequences of it. Democrats should
stop trying to provide political cover for themselves with this
amendment which does absolutely nothing.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. O'HALLERAN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is
remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Arizona has 1\1/2\
minutes remaining. The gentlewoman from North Carolina has 1\1/2\
minutes remaining.
Mr. O'HALLERAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to point out that the discussion
in committee and Chairman Scott's comments were not about this bill.
They were about another bill.
To identify that the Members of this Congress do not need data on
which to make further decisions, I hope we don't get to that point in
time in Congress.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding I am
allowed to close, so I will reserve until the other side does so.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman is correct.
{time} 1100
Mr. O'HALLERAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr.
Scott), committee chairman, for all the hard work he has done. And I
want to look forward to a time in America that we can see a time when
the working families of America can partake in the economy as others do
today.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I will say again to our
colleagues on the other side of the aisle, there is no group of people
more than the Republicans on this side of the aisle who care about
working families and who work every day for the philosophies that will
support those working families and, again, all other groups.
Let me say again, the amendment requires the GAO study only the
effects of the first two of the seven wage hikes in H.R. 582 rather
than the actual effect of this bill, which is increasing the minimum
wage by 107 percent.
As my colleagues well know, the first two wage hikes will not be as
damaging as the increase to $15, so the results of the proposed GAO
study are rigged to avoid using the damaging 107 percent hike as the
appropriate benchmark.
Second, this amendment has no teeth. It merely says that Congress can
make recommendations after the first two wage hikes have gone into
effect, but there is no requirement that Congress do anything in
response, and there is no fast-track authority in this amendment.
Again, I will say that this amendment is not necessary.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to see this amendment for what it
is: an attempt to provide political cover to Democrat Members who are
justifiably concerned about the negative impacts of a $15 Federal
minimum wage in their district.
Vote ``no'' on this amendment and ``no'' on H.R. 582.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the previous question
is ordered on the bill and on the amendment offered by the gentleman
from Arizona (Mr. O'Halleran).
The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from
Arizona (Mr. O'Halleran).
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Recorded Vote
Mr. O'HALLERAN. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XX, this 15-
minute vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr.
O'Halleran) will be followed by 5-minute votes on:
A motion to recommit, if offered; and
Passage of the bill, if ordered; and
Agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal, if ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 248,
noes 181, not voting 3, as follows:
[Roll No. 494]
AYES--248
Adams
Aguilar
Allred
Axne
Barragan
Bass
Beatty
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Blunt Rochester
Bonamici
Bost
Boyle, Brendan F.
Brindisi
Brown (MD)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Carbajal
Cardenas
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Case
Casten (IL)
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Cisneros
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Cooper
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Cox (CA)
Craig
Crist
Crow
Cuellar
Cummings
Cunningham
Davids (KS)
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny K.
Davis, Rodney
Dean
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
DelBene
Delgado
Demings
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Diaz-Balart
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle, Michael F.
Engel
Escobar
Eshoo
Espaillat
Evans
Finkenauer
Fitzpatrick
Fletcher
Foster
Frankel
Fudge
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcia (IL)
Garcia (TX)
Golden
Gomez
Gonzalez (TX)
Gottheimer
Green, Al (TX)
Grijalva
Grothman
Haaland
Harder (CA)
Hartzler
Hastings
Hayes
Heck
Herrera Beutler
Higgins (NY)
Hill (CA)
Himes
Horn, Kendra S.
Horsford
Houlahan
Hoyer
Huffman
Jackson Lee
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson (TX)
Kaptur
Katko
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Khanna
Kildee
Kilmer
Kim
Kind
King (NY)
Kinzinger
Kirkpatrick
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster (NH)
Lamb
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lawson (FL)
Lee (CA)
Lee (NV)
Levin (CA)
Levin (MI)
Lewis
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan
Luria
Lynch
Malinowski
Maloney, Carolyn B.
Maloney, Sean
Matsui
McAdams
McBath
McCollum
McEachin
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Moore
Morelle
Moulton
Mucarsel-Powell
Murphy
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Neguse
Norcross
O'Halleran
Ocasio-Cortez
Omar
Pallone
Panetta
Pappas
Pascrell
Payne
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Phillips
Pingree
Pocan
Porter
Pressley
Price (NC)
Quigley
Raskin
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Rooney (FL)
Rose (NY)
Rouda
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan
Sanchez
Sarbanes
Scanlon
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Schrier
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shalala
Sherman
Sherrill
Sires
Slotkin
Smith (NJ)
Smith (WA)
Soto
Spanberger
Speier
Stanton
Stefanik
Steil
Stevens
Suozzi
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tlaib
Tonko
Torres (CA)
Torres Small (NM)
Trahan
Trone
Underwood
Upton
Van Drew
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wexton
Wild
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NOES--181
Aderholt
Allen
Amash
Amodei
Armstrong
Arrington
Babin
Bacon
Baird
Balderson
Banks
Barr
Bergman
Biggs
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Brady
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Budd
Burchett
Burgess
Byrne
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Cheney
Cline
Cloud
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Comer
Conaway
Cook
Crawford
Crenshaw
Curtis
Davidson (OH)
DesJarlais
Duffy
Duncan
Dunn
Emmer
Estes
Ferguson
Fleischmann
Flores
Foxx (NC)
Fulcher
Gaetz
Gallagher
Gianforte
Gibbs
Gohmert
Gonzalez (OH)
Gooden
Gosar
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Green (TN)
Griffith
Guest
Guthrie
Hagedorn
Harris
Hern, Kevin
Hice (GA)
Higgins (LA)
Hill (AR)
Holding
Hollingsworth
Hudson
Huizenga
Hunter
Hurd (TX)
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson (SD)
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
[[Page H7126]]
Joyce (PA)
Keller
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
Kustoff (TN)
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Latta
Lesko
Long
Loudermilk
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Marchant
Marshall
Massie
Mast
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKinley
Meadows
Meuser
Miller
Mitchell
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Newhouse
Norman
Nunes
Olson
Palazzo
Palmer
Pence
Perry
Posey
Ratcliffe
Reed
Reschenthaler
Rice (SC)
Riggleman
Roby
Rodgers (WA)
Roe, David P.
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rose, John W.
Rouzer
Roy
Rutherford
Scalise
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Shimkus
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smucker
Spano
Stauber
Steube
Stewart
Stivers
Taylor
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Timmons
Tipton
Turner
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walker
Walorski
Waltz
Watkins
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Wright
Yoho
Young
Zeldin
NOT VOTING--3
Abraham
Fortenberry
Gabbard
{time} 1132
Mrs. HARTZLER, Messrs. ROSE of New York and GROTHMAN changed their
vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
So the amendment was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Neguse). The question is on the
engrossment and third reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was
read the third time.
Motion to Recommit
Mr. MEUSER. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman opposed to the bill?
Mr. MEUSER. I am, in its current form.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to
recommit.
The Clerk read as follows:
Mr. Meuser moves to recommit the bill H.R. 582 to the
Committee on Education and Labor with instructions to report
the same back to the House forthwith, with the following
amendment:
Add at the end the following:
SEC. __. SMALL BUSINESS SURVIVAL.
The amendments made by this Act shall not apply with
respect to an enterprise (as defined in section 3 of the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203)) that--
(1) employs fewer than 10 individuals; or
(2) whose annual gross volume of sales made or business
done is less than $1,000,000.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 minutes in support of his motion.
Mr. MEUSER. Mr. Speaker, this motion will not delay passage of this
bill or return it to committee. It is our last opportunity as a House
to amend this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I am here to offer a motion to recommit that is about
small business survival. It is about protecting the 8 million minority-
owned small businesses, the 9.9 million women-owned small businesses,
and the 2.5 million veteran-owned small businesses around the country
from the devastating repercussions of H.R. 582.
With this motion to recommit, employers with fewer than 10 employees
or annual sales under $1 million will not be forced to implement a $15-
per-hour minimum wage.
If this amendment is adopted, mom-and-pop shops across the country
will be protected from this bill's extreme and unnecessary one-size-
fits-all Washington mandate.
Small businesses employ almost half of all U.S. employees and account
for two-thirds of net new jobs. 99.9 percent of U.S. businesses are
small.
We know small businesses and their employees are the most vulnerable
to this radical and unprecedented increase in the Federal minimum wage.
The National Federation of Independent Business estimates that
businesses with fewer than 500 employees will account for 57 percent of
jobs lost due to this bill, and businesses with fewer than 100
employees will account for 43 percent of jobs lost.
Yet my Democrat colleagues have done nothing to protect these job
creators from a 107 percent minimum wage hike. Instead, this
legislation treats big and small businesses exactly same.
Without the financial resilience needed to absorb the increase in
bottom-line costs that this legislation will bring about, small
businesses and towns in every congressional district will be forced to
make very tough choices: Do they lay off workers? Raise prices on their
customers? Replace workers with robotics? Or shut their doors
completely?
Congress should not force our Nation's smallest and most vital job
creators to make those kinds of decisions.
Small business workers and their families will also take a
significant hit. The nonpartisan CBO backs up this reality, reporting
that mandating a $15 minimum wage would ``reduce business income and
raise prices as higher labor costs would be absorbed by business owners
and then passed on to consumers.''
From coast to coast, we have already seen real-world examples of how
workers and employers would be punished by this socialist policy. One
study found that Washington-knows-best mandates that stretch across our
Nation--or better known as socialist policies--we have real-world
examples showing that they simply do not work.
There was a very thorough study by Washington State University which
showed, in Seattle, a $15 minimum wage law reduced total income paid to
the city's low-wage workers by $120 million per year in that one city
alone.
The cost of living in Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York City, where
a $15 minimum wage is already in place, or soon to be, is much higher
than my district in Pennsylvania. With such disparities in the cost of
living across the country, imagine what a wage hike will do to rural
areas, rural workers represented by many of us in Congress.
Mr. Speaker, despite today's booming economy and rising wages,
supporters of H.R. 582 think it is best to force a punishing,
Washington one-size-fits-all wage hike on small businesses across
America.
A small business owner in the State of Washington actually said it
best:
Congress should not and cannot mandate its way to wage
growth and prosperity, because those mandates hit small
business hardest.
Mr. Speaker, even the liberal Washington Post said yesterday: ``There
is a trade-off in raising the minimum wage so substantially.''
The Washington Post went on to say: ``Those who would lose out, in
the form of no job at all, would wind up not with less pay but with no
pay.''
I urge all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this
modest but important amendment to H.R. 582. The small businesses and
their workers back home in each and every one of our districts will
thank us for protecting their livelihood.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to
recommit.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Florida is recognized
for 5 minutes.
Mrs. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, there has been an awful lot of talk
recently about what it means to be a patriotic American, and the fact
is the answer for each of us is deeply personal.
I wasn't blessed to be born an American citizen. I was born in
Vietnam, where my parents faced persecution by a communist government,
in part, for their wartime affiliation with the U.S. military.
When I was a baby, we fled Vietnam by boat, running out of fuel in
the South China Sea when a U.S. Navy ship came to our rescue, helping
us reach a Malaysian refugee camp. A Lutheran church then sponsored our
passage to America, where we became proud citizens.
Although we were eternally grateful to be here, life wasn't always
easy. My mom worked as a seamstress and my dad at a power plant, and
together, they cleaned office buildings at night, often bringing my
brother and me along.
My parents didn't speak English well or have a community of close
friends, but what they did have, like so many immigrants, was a strong
work ethic.
My dad also had a labor union in his corner, and the union spoke for
him and they fought for him.
My parents worked hard to make ends meet so that their children would
have opportunities they themselves never had. And that is the American
Dream, which brings me back to the question of what it means to be a
patriot.
[[Page H7127]]
For me, it starts with gratitude for this country and an appreciation
for its exceptional qualities.
This country saved my family's life. It gave us refuge and
opportunity, as it has done for so many across generations.
But I think patriotism goes beyond love of country. It is also about
striving to make this country even stronger. It is about trying to make
life a little bit easier for Americans who work hard and play by the
rules, folks like my parents and like so many of my constituents.
I support this bill for a simple reason: In the greatest country on
Earth, nobody with the dignity of a full-time job should suffer the
indignity of not being able to provide for themselves or their loved
ones.
For a decade, the minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour, while
the cost of living has skyrocketed, and there is no part in this great
country where $7.25 is a living wage anymore.
It is past time we gave hardworking American families a raise. They
have earned it.
This bill gradually increases the minimum wage in seven steps,
reaching $15 by 2025 at the earliest. This is a reasonable bill, not a
radical one.
CBO estimates this bill will raise wages for nearly 30 million
workers and lift millions out of poverty. They will have more money to
spend in the local economy because workers are consumers, too, and they
will be less reliant on government programs. And given that our deficit
will exceed a trillion dollars this year, that should be music to my
Republican colleagues' ears.
I oppose this MTR because every American who works hard deserves a
fair shot at the American Dream. Whether you live in Pennsylvania or
Arizona or Minnesota or Florida, you deserve a raise. And whether you
work for a large corporation or a small business, you deserve a raise;
you deserve a living wage; and you certainly deserve $15 an hour.
Public polling shows strong bipartisan support for increasing the
minimum wage.
Make no mistake: This MTR is simply a Republican attempt to defeat
this bill because they oppose any increase to the Federal minimum wage.
Some oppose the concept of a minimum wage at all. Well, the American
people disagree, and as Democrats, we stand with the American people.
The contrast is clear: Our Republican colleagues made working
families pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals and
corporations. Yes, they did. And now they are opposing our efforts to
give those working families a raise. That is not just bad policy; that
is shameful.
When I vote ``yes'' on final passage, I will be thinking about my
parents and my hardworking constituents; and thank God families like
these have labor unions fighting for them in the workplace and in the
Halls of Congress. This will be one of the proudest votes I cast.
I urge my colleagues to oppose the MTR. Let's pass this bill. Let's
continue this fight in the Senate and in State capitals across this
country.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is
ordered on the motion to recommit.
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to recommit.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the noes appeared to have it.
Recorded Vote
Mr. MEUSER. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. This is a 5-minute vote.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 210,
noes 218, not voting 4, as follows:
[Roll No. 495]
AYES--210
Aderholt
Allen
Amash
Amodei
Armstrong
Arrington
Babin
Bacon
Baird
Balderson
Banks
Barr
Bergman
Biggs
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Bost
Brady
Brindisi
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Budd
Burchett
Burgess
Byrne
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Cheney
Cline
Cloud
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Comer
Conaway
Cook
Crawford
Crenshaw
Cuellar
Cunningham
Curtis
Davids (KS)
Davidson (OH)
Davis, Rodney
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Duffy
Duncan
Dunn
Emmer
Estes
Ferguson
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Flores
Foxx (NC)
Fulcher
Gaetz
Gallagher
Gianforte
Gibbs
Gohmert
Gonzalez (OH)
Gooden
Gosar
Gottheimer
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Green (TN)
Griffith
Grothman
Guest
Guthrie
Hagedorn
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings
Hern, Kevin
Herrera Beutler
Hice (GA)
Higgins (LA)
Hill (AR)
Holding
Hollingsworth
Horn, Kendra S.
Hudson
Huizenga
Hunter
Hurd (TX)
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson (SD)
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
Joyce (PA)
Katko
Keller
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kinzinger
Kustoff (TN)
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Latta
Lesko
Long
Loudermilk
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Marchant
Marshall
Massie
Mast
McAdams
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKinley
Meadows
Meuser
Miller
Mitchell
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Newhouse
Norman
Nunes
Olson
Palazzo
Palmer
Pence
Perry
Peterson
Posey
Ratcliffe
Reed
Reschenthaler
Rice (SC)
Riggleman
Roby
Rodgers (WA)
Roe, David P.
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rooney (FL)
Rose, John W.
Rouzer
Roy
Rutherford
Scalise
Schrader
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Shimkus
Simpson
Slotkin
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smucker
Spanberger
Spano
Stauber
Stefanik
Steil
Steube
Stewart
Stivers
Taylor
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Timmons
Tipton
Turner
Upton
Van Drew
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walker
Walorski
Waltz
Watkins
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Wild
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Wright
Yoho
Young
Zeldin
NOES--218
Adams
Aguilar
Allred
Axne
Barragan
Bass
Beatty
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Blunt Rochester
Bonamici
Boyle, Brendan F.
Brown (MD)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Carbajal
Cardenas
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Case
Casten (IL)
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Cisneros
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Cooper
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Cox (CA)
Craig
Crist
Crow
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny K.
Dean
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
DelBene
Delgado
Demings
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle, Michael F.
Engel
Escobar
Eshoo
Espaillat
Evans
Finkenauer
Fletcher
Foster
Frankel
Fudge
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcia (IL)
Garcia (TX)
Golden
Gomez
Gonzalez (TX)
Grijalva
Haaland
Harder (CA)
Hayes
Heck
Higgins (NY)
Hill (CA)
Himes
Horsford
Houlahan
Hoyer
Huffman
Jackson Lee
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson (TX)
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Khanna
Kildee
Kilmer
Kim
Kind
Kirkpatrick
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster (NH)
Lamb
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lawson (FL)
Lee (CA)
Lee (NV)
Levin (CA)
Levin (MI)
Lewis
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan
Luria
Lynch
Malinowski
Maloney, Carolyn B.
Maloney, Sean
Matsui
McBath
McCollum
McEachin
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Moore
Morelle
Moulton
Mucarsel-Powell
Murphy
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Neguse
Norcross
O'Halleran
Ocasio-Cortez
Omar
Pallone
Panetta
Pappas
Pascrell
Payne
Perlmutter
Peters
Phillips
Pingree
Pocan
Porter
Pressley
Price (NC)
Quigley
Raskin
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Rose (NY)
Rouda
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan
Sanchez
Sarbanes
Scanlon
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrier
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shalala
Sherman
Sherrill
Sires
Smith (WA)
Soto
Speier
Stanton
Stevens
Suozzi
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tlaib
Tonko
Torres (CA)
Torres Small (NM)
Trahan
Trone
Underwood
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wexton
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--4
Abraham
Fortenberry
Gabbard
Green, Al (TX)
{time} 1154
Mr. BILIRAKIS changed his vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
So the motion to recommit was rejected.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
Stated against:
[[Page H7128]]
Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have
voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 495.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Recorded Vote
Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. This is a 5-minute vote.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 231,
noes 199, not voting 3, as follows:
[Roll No. 496]
AYES--231
Adams
Aguilar
Allred
Axne
Barragan
Bass
Beatty
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Blunt Rochester
Bonamici
Boyle, Brendan F.
Brown (MD)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Carbajal
Cardenas
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Case
Casten (IL)
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu, Judy
Cicilline
Cisneros
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Cooper
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Cox (CA)
Craig
Crist
Crow
Cuellar
Cummings
Davids (KS)
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny K.
Dean
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
DelBene
Delgado
Demings
DeSaulnier
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle, Michael F.
Engel
Escobar
Eshoo
Espaillat
Evans
Finkenauer
Fitzpatrick
Fletcher
Foster
Frankel
Fudge
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcia (IL)
Garcia (TX)
Golden
Gomez
Gonzalez (TX)
Gottheimer
Green, Al (TX)
Grijalva
Haaland
Harder (CA)
Hastings
Hayes
Heck
Higgins (NY)
Hill (CA)
Himes
Horsford
Houlahan
Hoyer
Huffman
Jackson Lee
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson (TX)
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Khanna
Kildee
Kilmer
Kim
Kind
Kirkpatrick
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster (NH)
Lamb
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lawrence
Lawson (FL)
Lee (CA)
Lee (NV)
Levin (CA)
Levin (MI)
Lewis
Lieu, Ted
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan
Luria
Lynch
Malinowski
Maloney, Carolyn B.
Maloney, Sean
Matsui
McBath
McCollum
McEachin
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Moore
Morelle
Moulton
Mucarsel-Powell
Murphy
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Neguse
Norcross
O'Halleran
Ocasio-Cortez
Omar
Pallone
Panetta
Pappas
Pascrell
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Phillips
Pingree
Pocan
Porter
Pressley
Price (NC)
Quigley
Raskin
Rice (NY)
Richmond
Rooney (FL)
Rose (NY)
Rouda
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan
Sanchez
Sarbanes
Scanlon
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrier
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shalala
Sherman
Sherrill
Sires
Slotkin
Smith (NJ)
Smith (WA)
Soto
Spanberger
Speier
Stanton
Stevens
Suozzi
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tlaib
Tonko
Torres (CA)
Trahan
Trone
Underwood
Van Drew
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson Coleman
Welch
Wexton
Wild
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NOES--199
Aderholt
Allen
Amash
Amodei
Armstrong
Arrington
Babin
Bacon
Baird
Balderson
Banks
Barr
Bergman
Biggs
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Bost
Brady
Brindisi
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Budd
Burchett
Burgess
Byrne
Calvert
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chabot
Cheney
Cline
Cloud
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Comer
Conaway
Cook
Crawford
Crenshaw
Cunningham
Curtis
Davidson (OH)
Davis, Rodney
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Duffy
Duncan
Dunn
Emmer
Estes
Ferguson
Fleischmann
Flores
Foxx (NC)
Fulcher
Gaetz
Gallagher
Gianforte
Gibbs
Gohmert
Gonzalez (OH)
Gooden
Gosar
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Green (TN)
Griffith
Grothman
Guest
Guthrie
Hagedorn
Harris
Hartzler
Hern, Kevin
Herrera Beutler
Hice (GA)
Higgins (LA)
Hill (AR)
Holding
Hollingsworth
Horn, Kendra S.
Hudson
Huizenga
Hunter
Hurd (TX)
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson (SD)
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
Joyce (PA)
Katko
Keller
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kinzinger
Kustoff (TN)
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Latta
Lesko
Long
Loudermilk
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Marchant
Marshall
Massie
Mast
McAdams
McCarthy
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKinley
Meadows
Meuser
Miller
Mitchell
Moolenaar
Mooney (WV)
Mullin
Newhouse
Norman
Nunes
Olson
Palazzo
Palmer
Pence
Perry
Posey
Ratcliffe
Reed
Reschenthaler
Rice (SC)
Riggleman
Roby
Rodgers (WA)
Roe, David P.
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rose, John W.
Rouzer
Roy
Rutherford
Scalise
Schrader
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Shimkus
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smucker
Spano
Stauber
Stefanik
Steil
Steube
Stewart
Stivers
Taylor
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Timmons
Tipton
Torres Small (NM)
Turner
Upton
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walker
Walorski
Waltz
Watkins
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Woodall
Wright
Yoho
Young
Zeldin
NOT VOTING--3
Abraham
Fortenberry
Gabbard
Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore
The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote). The Chair will remind all
persons in the gallery that they are here as guests of the House and
that any manifestation of approval or disapproval of proceedings is in
violation of the rules of the House.
{time} 1201
So the bill was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________