“I listened to the plaintive pleas of the Republican leader to think about poor people working and the impact it has on them, and I kept remembering it is his political party that has opposed the increase in the minimum wage, an increase in the wage these poor people are earning. They oppose it, with one exception, maybe two. Their party opposes increasing the minimum wage and comes to the floor and says we can’t do anything that could hurt poor working families”, said Senator Durbin.
On June 3, 2014 Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois gave an impassioned speech on the floor of the United States Senate regarding Global Warming. He also touched upon other important issues including the raising of the minimum wage and Republican opposition to that legislation and the Affordable Care Act.
Here is some of what he had to say:
“I listened to the arguments from the Senate Republican leader today about the impact of change and the impact of doing something about carbon pollution on poor people and working families. I had to come to the floor. I listened to the plaintive pleas of the Republican leader to think about poor people working and the impact it has on them, and I kept remembering it is his political party that has opposed the increase in the minimum wage, an increase in the wage these poor people are earning. They oppose it, with one exception, maybe two. Their party opposes increasing the minimum wage and comes to the floor and says we can’t do anything that could hurt poor working families.
First, let them join us in a bipartisan effort to raise the minimum wage. Secondly, I can report one thing that global warming and carbon pollution is producing today. It is producing the No. 1 complaint of children brought to the emergency rooms across America. What is the most common health problem bringing children to emergency rooms? Trauma? No. What is it? Asthma. I go to classrooms across my State, and I say to the children who are there: Hold up your hand if you know anyone who has asthma. Rural schools, urban schools, it is all the same. Hands go up across the classroom. These problems are created by the air we are forced to breathe. Are we going to do something about it? We should.
Our colleague Max Baucus from Montana recently took on the position as Ambassador to China. He and his wife were headed over and we said half jokingly: I hope the air is clean enough to breathe over there, because if you have been to China, you know it is a challenge every single day. Are we going to take a different approach in America? Are we going to set a different example in America when it comes to public health? This is our opportunity.
If we truly care about working families and their children, how can we ignore what is happening? As the air gets worse and carbon pollution increases and asthma increases, health care costs go up. Lives are compromised. I don’t want to see that happen. So if we truly care about working families, care about their children and the health of their children. I might also add, care about providing these families with health insurance. Time and again the same party that came to the floor this morning, telling us about working people, has opposed our efforts to extend the protection of health insurance to working families.
Which State is one of the most successful States in the Union in signing up people when it comes to our new health insurance plan, the so-called ObamaCare? One of the most successful per capita States in the Nation happens to be the Commonwealth of Kentucky, represented by the Senator who just spoke on the other side of the aisle. Hundreds of thousands of people in Kentucky now have health insurance through the President’s plan, including thousands under Medicaid.
So when we are talking about who is sensitive to the needs of working families, whether it is minimum wage or basic health insurance, I think our approach is one that has proven to be right. Over 6 million Americans have now signed up for health insurance. In my State of Illinois, over 100,000 in Cook County alone now have health insurance, and I have met some of them”, said Senator Durbin (Source: Congressional Record http://thomas.loc.gov/).
Dick Durbin is the Minority Leader in the Senate an extremely powerful and influential position.