(Kansas City, MO)—Today, August 2, marks the 10th anniversary of the last time Congress voted to raise the minimum wage. In recognition, Congressman Cleaver announces the Ministers’ March for the Minimum Wage, to be held August 12th at 4:30 p.m. at Mill Creek Park on the Country Club Plaza. This is the longest stretch between wage increases since the very first federal minimum wage law was put into effect in 1938.
 
Before leaving for the August recess, the House of Representatives passed an estate tax cut for the wealthiest Americans tied to a minimum wage increase. The Senate has indicated it has no intention of passing the measure.
 
“Increasing the minimum wage to $7.25 would benefit 7.7 million Americans with an average dollar benefit of $1,200.  The estate tax provision attached to the House bill will benefit 8,200 of our wealthiest families to the tune of $1.4 million each,” said Congressman Cleaver.
 
“American workers deserved a straight up and down vote on the minimum wage. I voted against the bill proposed in the House because it saddles the government with another $900 billion dollars in debt over the next decade to pay for yet another tax cut for the rich.”
 
About 70 percent of those workers making minimum wage are adults over the age of 20. Nearly 42 percent of them work full-time. Over 62 percent are white; 15.8 percent are black; and 17.2 percent are Hispanic.
 
At $5.15 per hour, a worker who works 40 hours a week for 52 weeks a year earns just $10,712. If the minimum wage was raised to the Democratic proposal of $7.25, it would equate to a raise of $4,400 a year raise for those most in need.
 
To urge a minimum wage increase without a dangerous estate tax attached, Congressman Cleaver will call upon 100 area members of the clergy to march with him to call on all people to care for their fellow man. “All of us with a sense of justice,” said Cleaver, “should be morally outraged at the pain imposed on the poor by this sinfully low minimum wage.”
 
Missouri has a provision on the ballot this November to raise the state minimum wage to $6.50. If passed, the federal minimum wage would supersede the lower Missouri provision.
 
Who:  Congressman Cleaver, members of the clergy, and labor leaders.
What:  A March for the Minimum Wage
When:  August 12, 2006 at 4:30 p.m.
Where: Mill Creek Park at the 47th Street entrance to the Plaza

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Belton, Raymore and Peculiar, Missouri. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee.