Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement after Republicans in the Senate prevented consideration of a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour:

“We have the ability to increase wages for twenty-five million Americans, allow several million Americans to escape from poverty, and increase in our gross domestic product by twenty-two billion dollars. We have that ability. We need only the resolve – to help millions of our families and the affirm the dignity of work. There are millions of Americans with full-time jobs – sometimes multiple jobs – who cannot afford to support a family,” said Congresswoman Clarke, who has co-sponsored a bill in the House of Representatives to increase the minimum wage and has supported Mayor Bill de Blasio’s effort to enact a living wage in New York City. “We need to restore the promise of prosperity for our families, to allow the American Dream to become a reality.