Legislative update—November 1999

In session: legislative update
November 1999

Senate blocks test ban treaty
Declining support for a higher minimum wage?
Senate blocks test ban treaty
The U.S. Senate created another obstacle to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty's global reach when legislators failed to ratify it in October. The treaty, first proposed by President Eisenhower in 1958, would ban nuclear explosions in the atmosphere, space, or underground. In 1996 President Clinton was the first leader to sign the treaty and since then more than 150 countries have followed suit.
Its rejection by the Republican-controlled Senate came as a blow to proponents of the treaty who had been waiting nearly two years for a vote. Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza, the president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that many Catholics had worked for the treaty's ratification, which he described as a "moral commitment."
"This vote makes it more difficult for our nation to fulfill its moral responsibility as a world leader to work with other nations to promote international peace and security," Fiorenza said in a statement. The treaty cannot go into effect until 44 nations with atomic weapons or atomic capabilities have signed and ratified it. So far 51 nations have ratified the treaty, and with the Senate's rejection it may be some time before the U.S. joins that list.
Although disappointed by the vote, Eighth Day Center for Justice staff member Dolores Brooks believes the treaty will eventually be ratified.
"It will still be on the books," she said. "It will be brought back after the election in 2000 . . . It certainly will be a political issue that the Democrats can capitalize on."
Brooks does not believe the Senate vote reflected what the majority of Americans think about nuclear testing. She pointed out that American citizens brought the peace movement to Washington in the first place.
"Thousands upon thousands gathered there," Brooks said. "That hasn't gone away." As those who support the test ban treaty wait for its return to the Senate, Brooks said proponents can use the time to give people a "solid education" on the issue.
"They need to educate people as to what the issue of test banning is about and talk about the myths used to defeat it," she said.
The treaty's defeat in the Senate has not weakened Bishop Fiorenza's resolve to fight for ratification. He ended his statement with a message of hope. "It is never too late for our nation to reverse course and live up to its moral responsibility to reduce and ultimately end our dependence on weapons of mass destruction," he said.—Maria Hickey
For more information:
The National Conference of Catholic Bishops/U.S. Catholic Conference
The 8th Day Center
U.S. Arms control and Disarmament Agency

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Declining support for a higher minimum wage?
During a time of apparent national prosperity, Congress may remain stingy with the U.S. minimum wage. While 11 million workers are struggling to keep their heads above water on less than $11,000 a year, U.S. senators and representatives are battling this month over a $1 increase for minimum wage workers.
The Senate bill calls for a $1 increase in the minimum wage to $6.15 over the next three years, scaling back from the one year, $1 increase included in a bill introduced last summer by Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy.
Meanwhile House legislators have attached $35 billion in tax breaks for businesses to its version of the minimum wage bill, greatly damaging its chances. Legislators' arguments against a wage increase are the same ones that have been used for years. Opponents claim an increase might force employers to lay off some of the very workers a higher minimum wage is meant to help, namely teenagers and unskilled workers.
Yet those predictions are becoming increasingly difficult to accept, according to the measure's proponents. Despite recent increases in the minimum wage, teenage unemployment has dropped to its lowest level since 1969—13.9 percent in the first nine months of this year. The unemployment rate among African American teens fell to 27.6 percent, it's lowest since 1972.
Public opinion seems to support the increase. According to an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll last March, 75 percent of Americans favor an immediate increase to $6.15 an hour, with only 23 percent opposed. A poll by Peter D. Hart and Associates taken in June found that 74 percent of the public were somewhat or much more likely to vote for a candidate who supported an increase in the minimum wage.
Just another $1 per hour for minimum wage workers would mean $2,000 more each year. It's not a lot, but it could make a real difference for the lowest paid workers in this country. And it might save Washington politicians from looking like real misers.—Maria Hickey
For more information:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics

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