Paycheck Fairness Act - Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. President, I rise to speak about the Minimum Wage Fairness Act, which I strongly support. The minimum wage, first instituted in 1938, has served as a key way to protect workers in our economy, ensuring they are able to earn enough money to provide basic living necessities. However, the current minimum wage set at $7.25 fails to do that.

The Federal minimum wage has not been increased since 2009. Today an individual who works 40 hours per week, 52 weeks a year at the Federal minimum wage earns $15,080 per year. This is nearly $5,000 below the Federal poverty level for a family of three and almost $9,000 below the poverty level for a family of four. This means we have hard-working Americans who put in full-time work every week for the entire year yet still live in poverty. This is unacceptable.

If we fail to act, the Federal poverty level will rise with inflation while the minimum wage will not. As a result, families earning $7.25 per hour will continue to fall further and further below the poverty line.

The value of the minimum wage peaked in 1968, and it is now much lower due to inflation. If the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation, it would currently pay $10.74 per hour. While the value of the minimum wage has been on the decline, worker productivity has been on the rise, and that is a disconnect. Increased productivity usually means there are increased wages that reflect that productivity, but that is not the case with the minimum wage. If the minimum wage had increased with rising productivity, it would be worth over $21 per hour today. Yet the minimum wage still stays stuck at $7.25.

If we were paying workers based on the 1968 level, it would be much higher. If we were paying workers based on their productivity and their ability to do the job, it would be exceptionally high.

The bill that will come before us shortly will increase the minimum wage in three installments until it reaches $10.10 per hour and then tie the Federal minimum wage to inflation. This would ensure that the value of the minimum wage will not be eroded over time as it has been. The bill will also increase the minimum wage for tipped workers, whose minimum wage has been fixed at $2.13 for over two decades. I must salute the Presiding Officer for his insistence that this provision be included in the minimum wage bill.

Over 3.5 million Americans currently work at or below the current minimum wage, and there are millions more who work just above it. Raising the minimum wage would therefore increase the wages of everyone making between the current minimum wage and the $10.10 mark.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 16.5 million Americans would see their wages increased by this legislation. The Council of Economic Advisers estimates that 28 million people would benefit from the wage increase.

According to researchers at MIT, a Rhode Island worker supporting a family of four would need to earn $19.17 per hour to have a living wage, a wage in which he or she could adequately support their family. Yet the current minimum wage lags woefully behind, thereby putting many working families in dire financial situations.

The Economic Policy Institute estimates that raising the Federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour--I would point out that our minimum wage in Rhode Island is $8 and that is higher than the Federal minimum wage--would give over 90,000 Rhode Islanders a raise. That would immediately translate to economic activity in Rhode Island, and it would immediately translate into growth in Rhode Island. That raise would affect almost 20 percent of our workforce. This is a critical way--in order to give families the ability to support themselves--to increase economic growth and also significantly begin to bring together workers at every level. We have seen extraordinary gains at the top level. We have extraordinary stagnation at the mid-level and the low level. We have to start bringing ourselves together rather than pulling ourselves apart.

Providing a raise to these Rhode Island workers would also impact an estimated 40,000 children in those families. Over 3 years, the Economic Policy Institute estimates this will cause the Rhode Island economy to grow by $77 million and support 300 additional jobs. We are talking about economic growth as well as fairness to working Americans.

The benefits of raising the minimum wage are vast both in my State and across this country. According to the CBO, this legislation would lift an estimated 900,000 people out of poverty. It would also help low and middle-income families who have been struggling in this economy. This would have a huge impact--and a positive impact--across the country.

Increasing the minimum wage is especially important to women who disproportionately work minimum wage jobs. Fifty-five percent of all minimum wage workers are women, including over 70 percent of the tipped workers.

Again, thanks to the efforts of the Presiding Officer, we are focusing on this issue of the tipped worker and their minimum wage.

While some have suggested otherwise, this legislation is also good for business. Studies show that higher wages allow businesses to save money because they have less turnover and lower training costs, which leads to increases in worker productivity that helps businesses succeed. An increased minimum wage can also help our Nation's small businesses to compete. It forces the big-box stores to pay wages that are comparable to those that are paid by many small businesses, which levels the playing field in the marketplace.

Finally, this bill will save billions of dollars on the Federal budget. By raising the minimum wage to $10.10, Federal need-based programs would have fewer enrollees and the costs of these programs would drop significantly. Researchers at the Brookings Institution estimate that increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 will save at least $11 billion annually in the Federal budget, and these savings come both from the lower costs of Federal programs and increased revenues from taxing a higher base salary.

Some critics have suggested that increasing the minimum wage only helps teenagers, but in fact the average age of individuals who will benefit from this legislation is 35 years old. Nationally, over 84 percent of those directly affected by this legislation are at least 20 years old and nearly half are at least 30.

In my State, according to the estimates by the Economic Policy Institute, 77 percent of workers who would see a raise under this bill are at least 20 years old. This is not just the part-time high school student who works a few hours a week making the minimum wage; these are people who are, on average, 30 years or older who are working and struggling not only for themselves but, in many cases, for their families. This bill is something that is beneficial to workers throughout this country.

Opponents of the minimum wage have also argued that increasing the minimum wage will decrease jobs, citing a recent CBO report. However, the CBO report was generated without any new analyses on the part of the CBO, and their estimates are stated with a great deal of uncertainty.

In fact, the CBO's own numbers suggest there is a 16-percent chance that increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 would actually increase employment. Economists at Goldman Sachs and at the Brookings Institution say that the CBO report overstates the likely negative impact on jobs.

Further, over 600 economists, including 7 Nobel Prize winners, sent a letter to President Obama and congressional leaders urging them to support this bill, saying that ``the weight of evidence now [shows] that increases in the minimum wage have had little or no negative effect on the employment of minimum-wage workers, even during times of weakness in the labor market.'' They go on to add that it could help stimulate the economy as higher wages will lead to increased consumer demand and spending.

The most recent research suggests that rather than having job losses, this will contribute to a growing economy. The benefits of raising the minimum wage are immense for families, workers, and the economy as a whole.

I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation to help restore the minimum wage as a safeguard for workers and their families in this country.

RECOGNIZING 99TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Mr. REED. Mr. President, this month we solemnly recognize the 99th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Ninety-nine years ago the Young Turk leaders of the Ottoman Empire summoned and executed over 200 Armenian leaders and intellectuals, beginning an 8-year campaign of oppression and massacre. By 1923, nearly 1.5 million Armenians were killed and over a half a million survivors were exiled. These atrocities affected the lives of every Armenian living in Asia Minor and, indeed, throughout the world.

Henry Morgenthau, Sr., who was the U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during President Wilson's administration and who had urged intervention, later remembered the events of the genocide, saying:

I am confident that the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode as this. The great massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost insignificant when compared to the sufferings of the Armenian race in 1915.

The survivors of the Armenian genocide, however, persevered due to their unbreakable spirit and steadfast resolve. They went on to enrich their countries of emigration, including the United States, with their centuries-old customs and culture. That is why today we not only commemorate this grave tragedy, but we celebrate the traditions, the contributions, and the bright future of Armenia.

In particular, I wish to note the incredibly strong Armenian-American community in my home State of Rhode Island. The Rhode Island Armenian-American community, as it does each year, holds events in commemoration of this grave tragedy. One will take place this year at the Martyrs' Monument at the North Burial Ground in Providence. This monument was built 38 years ago in memory of those who were lost in the genocide.

This year I once again join with my Senate colleagues on a resolution that encourages the United States to officially recognize the Armenian genocide. Denial of this history is not consistent with our country's sensitivity to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. We must continue to educate our young people against this type of hatred and oppression so that we can seek to prevent such crimes against humanity in the future.

I also remain committed to supporting efforts as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee to provide foreign assistance to Armenia to promote economic growth and business competitiveness, strengthen military and security assistance, and support democratic reforms and sustainable development.

I also wish to express my concern regarding the recent fighting and violence that is endangering the Armenian community in Kessab, Syria, and has forced many to flee. This community and so many others continue to struggle in the midst of this conflict.

We must find a way to recognize what happened 99 years ago and show our steadfast support to those who are currently being impacted by persecution. I hope we can come together and do that.

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