REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD): We just announced that we're going to be going back to Congress a week from now and we're going to put a discharge petition in and get the minimum wage on the calendar. We hope our Republican colleagues will join us so that we give the incentive for people to work, and when they work, they won't be living in poverty. We want to see comprehensive immigration reform passed as you pointed out. That's good for the economy, it's the moral thing to do. One more thing: we also continue to urge our Republican colleagues to re-establish the safety net for those who are unemployed through no fault of their own, can't find a job because three people are looking for every job that's available. We need to do that as soon as we get back.



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HOYER: The discharge petition wants to take the minimum wage bill that has been introduced on the Floor, put it up for a vote so taht we can raise the minimum wage over a couple of years to $10.10 an hour. ... It will happen if we get some 20 to 25 Republicans to sign that bill ... [but] there's very little action on the other side of the aisle. And they rationalize their failure to act by [saying] they don't like the President, they don't trust the President ... but the fact of the matter is their party is a deeply divided party that cannot come up with a consensus for action. They're the party of no. They're the party of repeal. They're the party that doesn't have the ear of the American public, frankly, because 70% of the American public believes the agenda we put forth is something that's good for America, good for growing the economy, and good for them and their families.