Critics and reporters often categorize Amazon as a big tech company, and it is true that digital technology powers much of our businesses. But in today’s economy, phrases like “big tech” and the “tech industry” obscure more than they enlighten. Our core business, consumer retail, involves hundreds of thousands of employees who store, ship and deliver billions of physical goods — not bits of data — via airplanes, trucks and vans around the world. We are not a social media company, a news aggregator or a forum for political advocacy (or disinformation).

While we fully agree that a company of Amazon’s size should be scrutinized, we also believe people should know that Amazon is doing exactly what many lawmakers and critics insist the private sector should do. And because Amazon is a large company with hundreds of thousands of employees, as well as contractual relationships with hundreds of thousands of other businesses of all sizes, what we do can generate positive ripple effects across the country.

When Amazon raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour, we made sure that every one of the company’s warehouse workers, known as fulfillment center associates, got a pay increase. But the change wasn’t just good for our associates. We have 500,000 employees in 40 states; when a company our size increases wages, competitors feel pressure to do the same for their own workers, or risk losing them. Indeed, after our wage-increase announcement, we received a record 848,775 applications for hourly positions.

We know $15 is not a lot. In fact, we believe $15 should be the minimum anyone in the United States is paid for an hour of labor, and in most areas of the country our starting wage is even higher. But while the debate about Amazon’s impact at times focuses on how our hourly jobs compare to jobs of the past, or to an idealized vision of the future, the truth is that more than 40 million Americans earn less than the lowest-paid Amazon associate. For many people, a job at one of our fulfillment centers is by far the best option available in their region. And we are proud of that — even as we agree that our political and business leaders must work together to create more and better options for all America’s workers.

One place to start: Raise the federal minimum wage to $15 from its current rate of $7.25 — something only members of Congress like Senator Sanders can do. If Congress were to follow our lead, all it would take to greatly improve the lives of America’s lowest-paid workers is the president’s signature.