"Passing this wage hike represents a small but necessary step to help lift America's working poor out of the ditches of poverty and onto the road toward economic prosperity and will narrow the financial gap between Americans of color and whites," said Morial. "I commend U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her colleagues for staying true to their word and delivering on their promise to get a minimum wage increase through in the first 100 hours of the 110th Congress."

Morial also urged the U.S. Senate to resist impeding progress on raising the minimum wage by adding small business tax cuts to the legislation.

The Fiscal Policy Institute has found that from 1998 to 2003 -- the number of small businesses in states with minimum wages higher than the $5.15 an hour actually grew at a faster rate than their counterparts in other states - 5.4 percent compared to 4.2 percent. The institute found similar increases in number of employees and payroll spent per worker.

"The fears the business community has expressed regarding the alleged ill effects of an increased minimum wage are unfounded," Morial said. "Giving tax relief to businesses has become a common occurrence on Capitol Hill. Raising the wage has been long overdue. It's about time our federal lawmakers cut a break for America's lowest-paid workers - not their bosses."

The current federal wage of $5.15 an hour has been in place since 1997. When adjusted for inflation, it is at its lowest level since 1955. Americans currently working full time at minimum wage can expect to see their earning rise nearly 47 percent to $15,070 a year, nearly $5,500 above the poverty line for individuals. Overall, 10 percent of the workforce or 13 million workers are expected to benefit from the wage hike, 16 percent of them African Americans.

"The U.S Congress must bring our nation's lowest-wage earners out of the 1950s and into the 21st Century. These workers can barely support themselves let alone their children on minimum wage. If we fail to acknowledge their hard work, we risk exhausting their hope of achieving the American dream," he said.

More than half of states already require employers to pay workers at an hourly wage above the federal minimum level. And, according to a recent Associated Press-AOL News poll, 80 percent of Americans surveyed support a raise.

Morial also called upon the U.S. Congress to include indexing future minimum wage increases to inflation as they iron out their differences on the legislation later in the 110th Congress. Four states -- Florida, Washington, Oregon and Vermont - already employ indexing. And according to the Economic Policy Institute, adjusting the current rate for cost-of-living increases could have added just $1.33 an hour over 10 years.

"Federal lawmakers could have spared millions of workers already in precarious economic situations from losing financial ground for a mere $1.33 more an hour," Morial added. "By indexing the wage for inflation, we'll assure that the nation's lowest-paid employees get the same cost-of-living increase that our political leaders are entitled to." he said.

For more information call Ricky Clemons at 212-558-5371.