Minimum Wage
April 22, 2008Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) today made the following statement in honor of Equal Pay Day. Dodd is a senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and an original sponsor of The Fair Pay Restoration Act, a bill that would restore the clear intent of Congress that workers must have a reasonable time to file a pay discrimination claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
February 1, 2007“Today, by an overwhelming vote of 94-3, the Senate approved a $2.10 raise in the federal minimum wage, providing an additional $4,400 per year to the millions of hard-working men and women who are helping fuel our economy and keep our nation strong. With the rising costs of housing, food, energy, healthcare and education, this modest raise will allow millions of Americans a chance to provide a better life for themselves and their families.”
January 10, 2006
"I commend the House for quickly acting to raise the minimum wage. This pay raise will directly impact the lives of millions of hardworking men and women who struggle each and every day to make ends meet. With the cost of gasoline, food, housing, health care and education continually rising, this modest raise is long overdue.”
December 2, 2006
“Today, the federal minimum wage will have remained stagnant for more than nine years and three months, the longest time since its establishment almost 70 years ago. Many of the financial gains associated with the last raise in minimum wage in 1997 have all but eroded due to inflation. It is next to impossible for hard-working men and women to make ends meet for themselves and their families when they are earning wages established in 1997 and salaries that fall well below the poverty line. The price of housing has increased, the price of higher education has increased, the price of health care and energy has increased. The only thing that hasn’t increased since 1997 is the minimum wage.
June 20, 2006
Mr. President, let me begin again by thanking my colleague from Massachusetts and others who have fought so long and hard over the last decade to have an increase in the minimum wage in our country, from the $5.15 that was adopted about a decade ago to the suggestion today that we raise this some $2.10. I know $2.10 may -- apparently it's quite a bit of money to many of my colleagues here. To many, of course, it's nothing more than a cup of coffee at a high-priced coffee shop today or a few sodas or a sandwich along the way, but it makes a difference, Mr. President, that $2.10 increase after a decade in the minimum wage will add some $4,400 to the incomes of people who are -- who are depending upon the minimum wage to provide for themselves and their families.
Hoy, en el día de su cumpleaños, tributamos respeto a un gran hombre, Cesar Estrada Chavez.
Yo tenía el honor de conocer Cesar Chavez. No hay nadie que trabajó más fuerte ni más apasionado para los hombres, mujeres y niños quienes trabajan en las granjas de este país que él.
Es muy fácil olvidar que la comida que comemos no aparece en los supermercados por manera mágica. Toda la comida allí representa el trabajo de verdaderas personas – muchos de ellos vienen a este país en busca de una vida mejor, pero en vez encuentran salarios bajos, habitaciones inadecuadas y condiciones de trabajo de calidad inferior.
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