Senate GOP Blocks Minimum Wage Hike

In a speech to the Senate, Kennedy said that minimum wage employees working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, earn $10,700 a year, or $4,500 below the poverty line for a family of three. The value of the increase that Congress approved seven years ago has eroded to the point that their wages are worth less now than they were before the last increase, he added.

During those seven years, members of Congress have raised their own pay by $21,000, Kennedy said. "It's shameful that members of Congress have raised their own pay . . . without giving the nation's lowest-paid workers any increase at all," he added.

Kennedy said nearly 7 million workers would benefit directly from the proposed increase.