To the court and allowing the subscriber to raise whatever objections they have before the court. Like i said, its interesting that some of the testimony thats been giving here, i think its very concerning from some issues of anecdotal evidence and real evidence and discussions, especially on the sec side, when youre giving, you know, your own report saying youre doing more than youve ever done this, yet without this, by choice or decision, however you want to do it. Mr. Calabrese, one last question for you, because my time is now over. But in dissent from the sec request, the commissioner wrote, i am not convinced this is necessary to maintain the efficiency of law enforcement. On the other hand, i am concerned that the judicial mechanism could entrench authority that have potential to lead invasions of privacy and in some circumstances may be unconstitutional in practice. Do you agree or disagree with his concern . I do worry that we will create an unconstitutional or incredibly reckless carveout for civil agencies. And my home is that we continue to push hr 699 forward as is, to a markup, and we can vote and get it to the floor. Seeing how its just me and the distinguished ranking member, this concludes todays hearing. Without objection, all members have five legislative days to submit additional written questions for the witnesses or additional materials for the recalled. With that this hearing is adjourned. As 2015 wraps up, cspan presents Congress Year in review, a look back at all the news making issues, debates, and hearings that took center stage on capitol hill this year. Join us thursday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern as we revisit Mitch Mcconnell taking his position as Senate Majority leader. Pope franciss historic address to a joint session of congress. The resignation of House Speaker john boehner and the election of paul ryan. The debate over the nuclear deal with iran. And reaction from congress on Mass Shootings here and abroad. Gun control, terrorism, and the rise of isis. Congress year in review on cspan, thursday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. The second session of the 114th Congress Begins in january. The house is back for legislative work next tuesday, january 5th. Among the items on the agenda next week, the budget reconciliation bill that would defund planned parenthood and repeal the Affordable Care act. The senate has already approved the legislation and the president said he would veto it. The Senate Returns the following week on monday, january 11th. Senators will consider a u. S. Circuit Court Nomination in pennsylvania and a bill from kentucky senator rand paul that would require an audit of the Federal Reserve. The house is live on cspan and the senate live on cspan 2. Coming up next here on washington journal, were going to talk about efforts to raise the minimum wage across the country. In particular, this effort called fight for 15, raising specific minimum wage to 15 an hour. A bit of a roundtable discussion across the country here. Were joined here in washington at our washington journal table by james sherk, who is a labor and Economics Research fellow with the Heritage Foundation, and joining us from kansas city this morning is kendall fells, the organizing director in the Organization Called fight for 15. Kendall fells, lets start with you and ask you about this effort, fight for 15. Whats behind it . Well, bill, i think first we have to take a step back. About 36 months ago, about 2 fun fast food workers in new york city went on strike. They had two demands. 15 an hour, and a right to form a union without retaliation from their employer. At the time, when fast food workers went on strike, people thought they were crazy. Here we are 36 months later, and you see victories all across the country, 15 minimum wage in l. A. , 15 statewide through a mechanism called a wage board in new york state, where 150 to 200,000 fast food workers received 15. A raise in the minimum wage in San Francisco, in seattle, Companies Like facebook, i can go on and on. The point that im making is that these fight for 15 workers, fast food workers, home care workers, childcare workers, have created a movement in this country that is sweeping and changing politics as we know it. I think working people now see when they come together, their voices can be heard. I think that you see in the victories that politicians and companies are listening. And now these workers have their eyes set on the 2016 election. The federal minimum wage is what, 7. 25 an hour. Thats over a doubling of that federal minimum wage, correct . Why such a big increase in the minimum wage, in your efforts . I mean, when you look at fast food workers specifically, over 52 of them are on public assistance. So about 7 billion a year in taxpayers money is being used to feed, house, and clothe these workers, because Companies Like mcdonalds only pay 7. 25. And a lot of times these workers work three years, five years, seven years and dont receive a raise. Workers came up with the 15 demand because thats what they need to get food, clothing, and shelter and be able to survive. Theres no city in america where you can live on less than 15 an hour. Let me ask james sherk, whats the Economic Impact weve seen or is there any evidence so far of what happens when the minimum wage gets raised specifically by that amount . Theres no doubt that people are struggling. This has been a very weak economy, weak recovery. But what we need are policies that are actually going to help. The Congressional Budget Office estimated if we went to 10. 10 an hour, it would cost half a million jobs. Neither we nor other western industrialized nation has tried to raise the minimum wage that high. The best evidence is places like puerto rico, which unfortunately for them in the 1970s, they got tied into the u. S. Federal main line minimum wage. Puerto rico has a cost of living and per capita income about a third that of the u. S. And so when they went up to the federal minimum wage, this was going in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 an hour here. Over the next seven to 11 years, many jobs disappeared there. 9 of all jobs in the puerto rican economy disappeared in the course of six or seven years because they raised the minimum wage so high. So we dont have a lot of evidence but the evidence we do have is pretty concerning. When is the last time the federal minimum wage was raised . 2009. Weve had state minimum wage increases since then, about 25 or so states that have minimum wage currently above the federal minimum wage. We want to invite our cspan and washington journal viewers and listeners to join the conversation. If you are earning the minimum wage and understanding that that minimum wage could be different in the city where you are, if youre earning minimum wage as a worker, a special line for you. Well get to your calls momentarily. Kendall fells, about that minimum wage, it is different from state to state in some places, or city to city in your efforts. Is it your intention to move this 15 an hour effort nationwide . In other words, boost that minimum wage to 15 an hour for all job categories . Well, heres the thing. Fast food workers are really spearheading the fight for 15. You know, but when you look at everyone thats coming out to the rallies, people who are participating, people who have been motivated by these fast food workers, you see childcare workers, Convenience Store workers, et cetera, you know, what these fast food workers really want is mcdonalds to come to the table and negotiate 15 an hour and the right to form a union. What you see is politicians who have gotten caught up in the momentum these workers have created, and theyre responding to the demand. What you see is companies doing the exact same thing. So at the end of the day, low wage workers, its about 64 million of them in this country, and they want 15, whether it comes directly from their company or it comes through legislation or it comes through a wage board, workers need enough money to be able to survive in todays economy. James sherk, getting back to your comment, you talked about the report on whether they raised it to 10. 10. Would there be an Economic Impact if they raised it to 7. 75 an hour, eight bucks an hour . Theres going to be some Economic Impact, correct . The fact of the matter is there arent all that many workers making the current u. S. Minimum wage right now. Theres a report put out every year. I invite listeners to google that report, characteristics of minimum wage workers in 2014. Theres two million workers making below the minimum wage. Thats generally employees working at a restaurant, and with tips they come well above the minimum wage. Lets see what our viewers experience is. Bar harbor, safety harbor, rather, florida, mike on our republican line. Mike, good morning. Groood morning. I would like to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving. Mr. Fells, i dont want you earn 15 an hour. I want you earning 25, 50, 100, t 200 an hour. The very concept and structure of the employment and working in america is centered around, you have to advance your skill level. And unfortunately, pretty much every single job at a fast Food Establishment outside of managerial requires very little if any skills. Meaning you could take a human being and bring them in and in two hours they could master the skills. Im not saying its not demanding work and im not saying that it doesnt have value. But the value it presents, it doesnt equal 15. And if i can, cspan, i need to talk a little bit more about the financial you know, this all comes down to the value of our dollar. And various socialist laws that are being passed, i mean, does the gentleman, mr. Fells, understand how obamacare has directly affected fast food workers and their hours . A couple of good points there, mike. Well hear from kendall fells. Go ahead. I mean, i think that the facts speak for themselves. When 7 billion a year in tax dollars are being spent to subsidize workers who work for Companies Like mcdonalds who makes 5 billion a year, the fast Food Industry is a 200 billion a year industry, has the largest disparity between the front line workers and the ceo, more than a thousand times is what the ceo makes, more than the front line worker. I think that people at this point in the country realize that the only way were going to get the economy back on track is to get money in the pockets of low wage workers. When 46 of workers in this country make less than 15 an hour, then taxpayers are forced to pick up the bill. While Companies Make off with sacks of money. Now es that dynamic changing. Since this campaign started, children and families will have better holidays at the end of this year because of this campaign and what workers have done and the bravery theyve displayed, going on strike. First of all, i think the gentleman has an excellent point on the minimum wage being really more of a learning wage. The fact of the matter is a majority of American Workers started out their careers making within a dollar of the minimum wage. Those are statistics from the bureau of labor statistics, a report they did a few years back. Statistically speaking, more than half the people watching today started at the minimum wage. Very few of those people are still at the minimum wage. What happens is, you start out with fewer skills and less experience. Very often the soft skills, things like showing up regularly for work each day when you would rather hit the snooze button. Do either of you know what the average age of a fast food worker would be . Again, if you look at the bureau of labor statistics report, what you can see is that 56 of those who are making the federal minimum wage are between the ages of 16 and 24 years of age. Kendall fells, your quick response. The average age of a fast food worker is about 28 years old. Twothirds of them are women. And the average age of a woman in fast food is about 33 years old. There was a day when fast food workers were teenagers trying to get book bags. Now theyre adults trying to figure out how to raise kids, pay a mortgage, and keep food in their refrigerator. Lets go to south dartmouth, massachusetts, ray on the independents line. Hi, how are you . I wanted to say, my girlfriend worked at walmart for 16 years. She got ms. And they used to have seminars to tell those people how to get on food stamps, how to get health insurance. They used to have seminars. And 16 years of working there, when she was diagnosed with ms, they actually took her discount card away from her, you know . I mean, sure, the republicans got the midterm election, but let me tell you something, come the new election, everybodys going to come out. You only had 26 of the people vote in the midterm. Wait til this next election. Youll see a big change. Thank you very much. Okay. Heres nacogdoches, texas, the independents line. Good morning. I dont understand why its a big problem, if a democrat says something, like minimum wage being 15, because now, if im not mistaken, some of the republican candidates are saying that the minimum wage ought to be 15. But when a democrat was saying it, its wrong, but now when a republican, one of the republicans now even call in on the show saying that its hard for somebody to live on 15 an hour. So its society trying to keep everybody in check if youre this or that. Im going to leave it right there because i cant get it out. They try to paint a picture of where you should be. But Everybody Needs to make good money to survive. Some people are working two or three jobs and still cant pay their bills. Thank you. He was talking about politicians, their comments on the campaign trail about the minimum wage. We have heard in particular from hillary clinton, heres what shes calling for in the efforts, her efforts to boost the minimum wage. The overall message is that it doesnt result in job loss. However, what alan krueger said in the piece youre referring to, is that if we went to 15, there are no international comparisons. That is why i support a 12 National Federal minimum wage. That is what the democrats in the senate have put forward as a proposal. But i do believe that is a minimum. And places like seattle, like los angeles, like new york city, they can go higher. Its what happened in governor omalleys state. There was a minimum wage at the state level and some places went higher. It didnt just happen. Thats the hardest way to move forward. If you go to 12, it would be the highest level we have had. Do you think this is something best level to cities and states . Absolutely, this should be addressed at as local a level as possible. 12 an hour nationwide, that means very different thing in new york city than charleston, west virginia. 12 an hour in San Francisco and in memphis, tennessee are very different things. Trying to impose a uniform federal wage floor simply cant account for those local cost of living differences. It also doesnt account for the differences in local economies. You could have an economy thats in a recession where jobs are very hard to come by. Were making the tradeoff between higher wages and jobs is particularly painful. A National Wage doesnt take that into account. Kendall fells, tell us about your local successes and some of the failures you may have had in boost it go to 15 an hour. When you look across the country, the evidence is overwhelming. You look at a place like new york state, Governor Cuomo, who is really far from, you know, a part of the economic kind of the liberal economic bastion of thinking, so to speak. New york state, new york city, albany, rochester, those workers are at going to be at 15 an hour because of the work that these workers have done with the fight for 15. If you look at l. A. , same thing, through the city council, 15. Seattle, the same thing. San francisco, the same thing. Birmingham, alabama, 10. 10. 13 in kansas city, missouri. 15, facebook raised their wages to 15. Aetna raised their pay to 15. So on and so forth. The Democratic Party has picked up 15 as their platform for 2016. I think that what you see is politicians specifically realizing that in november theres going to be a referendum on wages. And these workers need 15 and they need it now. The voting bloc is about 64 million workers across this country who make less than 15 an hour. North carolina, 2 million or more workers lake less than 15. You look at a battleground state like florida, 4 million or so workers make less than 15. Just moving a fraction of those workers to the polls could swing elections all across the country. This movement has been extremely successful. The Democratic Party has picked up the platform, and you see companies raising their pay to 15 voluntarily. You see politicians like rahm emanuel in chicago going to 13. I think thats all evidence that when workers come together around a simple demand like 15 an hour and the right to form a union, that change can be created. Our conversation this morning is about raising the minimum wage with james sherk of the Heritage Foundation, kendall fells with fight for 15. We welcome your calls too. Quick comment before we go back to calls, jim sherk. If you look at the polls, 75 of americans oppose raising the minimum wage to 15 an hour, including presumably a lot of those who are below 15 an hour. The reason for that is people recognize it would be very destructive and cost a lot of jobs. The true minimum wage is zero dollars an hour. A company doesnt have to hire you. A company is not going to hire a worker unless their productivity is more than their wage. Theyre just not going to get hired at 13 15 an hour, they not going to have a job. Caller good morning, gentlemen. As a person that owned businesses, a minimum wage at times i would get people that were so worthless, and i gave them the minimum wage, but thats a learning wage. Many of them co