Pelosi Remarks at Raise the Wage Act Press Conference

Contact: Drew Hammill, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks today at a press conference previewing the introduction of the Raise the Wage Act by Senator Patty Murray and Congressman Bobby Scott. Below are the Leader's remarks:

"Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for honoring us with your presence today and taking that message across the country. You and President Obama have gotten results across the country with local, state actions on the minimum wage. And here we are thanks to the leadership of Senator Murray and Congressman Bobby Scott – Chairwoman Murray, Ranking Member Scott. I want to associate myself with their remarks in the interest of time, but also thank them for their strong leadership in bringing this long-overdue legislation forward.

"It is an honor to be here with them and with Senator Reid, whom I will introduce in a moment, but not before I say that our true VIPs today are Rupa and Gina Schaefer – of course, we thank Christine Owens. Thank you all for honoring us with your presence and your commitment to raising the minimum wage. This is about Americans aspiring to the middle class, helping them to get there. What is it, something like 28 million Americans will have a pay raise? That's a remarkable number of people. And it's good for them and it's part of what the President is doing on the Lead to Leave – whether it's paid leave that Senator Murray mentioned, but also early childhood education – all of this to empower American families to reach, as the Senator said, the American dream.

"But it's also important for the economy. Raising the minimum wage is a very important stimulus to the economy. Unless we have a strong and viable middle class, we cannot fully turn around the economy. We can have all kinds of indicators – the stock market, the ‘this' or the ‘that' – that are very good, but it's not going to hit home unless we stop the wage stagnation. And that's what this will do: stop that stagnation.

"So thank you, Senator, and thank you, Mr. Scott, for putting in the index into the median wage and also putting in eliminating the difference between a tip wage and the other – an unconscionable, almost immoral difference in the system. So again, remember this: in a consumer economy, when the middle class succeeds, the economy succeeds. This lifting people into the middle class – so that they have the confidence to consume, inject demand into the economy, create jobs – lifts everyone up. So this is a great thing for the American people. What are we calling it? The Wage Act? Raise the Wage Act. Raise the wage! Bigger paychecks. Bigger paychecks.

"And a person who has been a champion for that his whole life in Congress and in public service is the Democratic Leader of the Senate. It is really an honor for us, with all that is on his plate, for him to make this a priority. But no surprise – it's always been a priority for him, right Steny? For our distinguished colleague in the Senate. He's a real champion, he's a hero. What more can I say than we couldn't be better served than by the leadership of Senator Harry Reid."

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