Congress members need to personally experience the way of living of millions of Americans who are forced to survive on minimum wage. This is the only way for them to see the difficulty Americans have making ends meet.

* Current 2013 US President of the United States annual salary $400,000 (or $192 per hour)

* Current 2013 US Vice-President of the United States annual salary $230,700 (or $111 per hour)

* Current 2013 Speaker of the House annual salary $223,500 (or $107 per hour)

* Current 2013 rank-and-file of members of Congress annual salary $174,000 (or $83 per hour)

* In addition to the above salary, Congress members are allowed to earn "outside earned income" as well as "non-salary income" thus earning even more money than the established annual salary above.

* Current 2013 US Federal Minimum Wage for Americans is $7.25 per hour, last re-set July 24, 2009!

* In 2012, 1.6 million Americans were reported as earning exactly the prevailing federal minimum wage.

* In 2012, about 2.0 million Americans were reported as earning wages below the minimum federal wage.

No public official should live better than millions of Americans who are forced to live at or BELOW the minimum federal hourly wage. If our public officials think the minimum wage is enough for any family to survive on, then let them lead by example!

Source: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm