Date: 2006-07-11
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Really. what it boils down to is exactly what you are saying. it is that they are completely out of touch. And I just want to pull up this illustration. We have our thirdparty validators here that really help us demonstrate what we are talking about on the floor each night. Mr. Speaker. It is not information we are making up. It is not the Debbie Wasserman Schultz encyclopedia. or the Tim Ryan dictionary. These are facts we are laying out in front of the American people so that they can decide whether they want to continue down the path the Republican leadership has taken them on or whether they want to go in a new direction. It is clear that the Republicans have made these decisions because they are out of touch. I mean. let us just look at the real economic changes under this administration. under President Bush and the Republican leadership. as opposed to the bogus one that they rolled out today with their economic midyear review. You can make numbers. as they have done. look as rosy as you would like. but this is the real deal. Let us be clear. the Majority Leader. Mr. BOEHNER. specifically said on June 20: "I have been in this business for 25 years. and I have never voted for an increase in the minimum wage. I am opposed to it. and I think a vast majority of our conference is opposed to it." And he said that on June 20 of 2006. So let us take a walk down memory lane here. If you actually are in touch with what everyday Americans are dealing with. then you will know that. of course. since 1997. there has been no minimum wage increase. But if you look at the price of milk. the price of milk has gone up 24 percent. And if you actually shop in the supermarket. like I do. then you will know that the price of milk has steadily increased when you are trying to buy a gallon of it. How about the price of bread? That has gone up 25 percent. We are talking about staples that people actually pay for with their minimum wage increase. if they get one. Or dont get one. Let us take a look at the cost of a 4year public college education. The cost of that has gone up 77 percent since Look at the cost of health insurance. That has gone up 97 percent. But no minimum wage increase in 9 years. How about the price of regular gas? That has gone up. as every working family knows. 136 percent. And while I am at it. I might as well pull out my little toy prop here. because I think it is illustrative. I think part of the problem is. it is clear by that chart that most Republicans obviously arent dealing with these issues every day. They are not buying their own bread. They couldnt be. otherwise they would know that it has increased as much as it has. They are not buying their own gallons of milk. Maybe they have their household staff buy these things for them. or maybe they do it on the Internet. Or I am not sure what is going on. But when it comes to the price of a gallon of gas. this is an oldfashioned gas tank. or gas pump. I have just concluded that it is obvious that the Republicans have not done anything about gas prices. Mr. RYAN. because most of them clearly have not used their own gas pump to fill their own gas tanks since they looked like this. Because otherwise they would be more committed to. instead of doing the bidding of the oil industry by passing legislation that puts money. more and more millions and billions in their pockets. they would make sure we invested. truly invested in expanding our July. 11. 2006 alternative energy resources. so that we could reduce the cost of a gallon of gas. and so that we could make sure that the Congress would focus on the issues that people in America really care about. Fl 1900 But it is clear to me that they havent used one of these for a really long time. and that is the reason they are so out of touch.