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CONGRESSMAN CLEAVER GOES GROCERY SHOPPING WITH MINIMUM WAGE MOM
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Congressman Cleaver and local mom, Allison Bitzer,
work together to highlight struggles of minimum wage workers
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Growing up in public housing taught me many things as a boy. Certainly, the struggles faced by hardworking parents to put food on the table, was one of them. This week I got the honor of meeting Kansas City resident, Allison Bitzer. She is a mother of two, an honors student at Penn Valley Community College, and a full-time employee at a local fast food restaurant. Making ends meet is nearly impossible.
Together, as a part of a news conference with Missouri Jobs with Justice and other organizations, we tried to spotlight Allison, and the many thousands of workers in Missouri’s Fifth District, just like her. Our focus is clear. The minimum wage needs to be increased.
It has been three long years since workers have seen a federal minimum wage increase. Since then, nearly everything has increased but the minimum wage: the price of milk, the price at the pump, the cost of a college education.
It is because of this, that I am a cosponsor of H.R. 6211, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2012. The proposed legislation would increase the minimum wage in three 85-cent steps, over three years, from $7.25 to $9.80 per hour. It would also increase the required cash wage for tipped workers in annual 85-cent increases. Research shows women make up two-thirds of all tipped workers in America and are much more likely to live in poverty.
Residents in Missouri’s Fifth District should not have to decide between paying rent and putting food on the table. Minimum wage workers, like Allison, are doing everything we tell them they are supposed to do in America to get ahead. They are working hard, playing by the rules, and trying to provide for their families. I strongly believe we should be doing our part to help them climb into the middle class.
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Congressman Cleaver speaks to crowd about the need for an increase
in the minimum wage as Bitzer looks on
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For more information, please visit: http://cleaver.house.gov/
CONGRESSMAN CLEAVER JOINS DAIRY FARMERS OF AMERICA
It is certainly no secret that farmers, ranchers and producers in Missouri are facing extremely difficult times. Following last year’s flood, we are now in the midst of a devastating drought, with no end in sight.
This week I was invited by the Dairy Farmers of America to tour a family-owned dairy farm in Lafayette County. This was an important opportunity to hear more from those on the ground, doing the hard work of farming, each and every day. Farmers stressed several points to me, including the fact that the Farm Bill needs to be passed immediately. I am in complete agreement with this, and am pushing for this in Washington at each and every turn.
Farmers shared a lot of very specific information in this tour about the impact of the drought, as well. It is causing prices to escalate in all areas, including feed costs. Corn-gluten pellets have doubled in price. Distillers grain is up some 40%, alfalfa is up 100%, and the list goes on and on. Many farmers simply can’t cover these types of prices.
I will continue to work in Washington to make sure our voices are heard and that the deserved assistance that is so desperately needed comes soon.
DISCUSSING SOCIAL SECURITY AND CIVILITY IN INDEPENDENCE
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Congressman Cleaver visits with residents of the Olde Oak Tree Apartments in Independence
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A visit recently to the Olde Oak Tree Apartments in Independence offered a nice opportunity to listen to residents and answer questions on many issues. There are concerns about Social Security, which is an issue near and dear to my heart. And about civility in Washington. Or, more appropriately, the lack of civility. These residents voiced the same aggravation I hear throughout the Fifth District as I meet with constituents. People want their lawmakers to stop focusing on disagreements and hostile language, and to look for areas of compromise. This is one of my main priorities. I do not believe we can do our best work for the people who have elected us, if politics and rhetoric are put above making the tough decisions that need to be made to get our country back on track.
CIVILITY CORNER
St. Martin, who was appointed the Bishop of Tours in 371 AD, is believed to have told a story in which he embarked on a journey, during which he met two travelers. One was overtly greedy and self-indulgent, while the other was controlled by the green-eyed monster (the phrase Shakespeare used to identify jealously). St. Martin, just before leaving the two travelers, offered them a blessing. He would grant a full wish to whoever expressed their desire first. The kicker was that the second traveler would get double the first man’s wish.
The two men were unable to do anything. You see, the greedy man wanted to wish, but he wanted the other traveler to go first, so he could get double. The jealous traveler could not stand the thought of the other getting more, so he dared not go first either. Therefore, like the U.S. House of Representatives, nothing moved forward. Progress took a back seat, because neither could have his way. They never attempted to develop a compromise; they both must have looked infantile, even dimwitted to St. Martin.
At last, the greedy man physically attacked the other in an attempt to choke him to death. Fearing that he would die, the jealous man yelled, “I wish to be blind in my left eye.” And as promised by St. Martin, the jealous man became blind in the left eye, while the other became totally blind.
Who won? Absolutely no one. Their public approval, I’m sure, dropped to single digits.
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Emanuel Cleaver, II
Member of Congress
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