Minimum Wage Bill 219

Restaurant workers are some of the hardest working people in business, not only do they serve tables and provide excellent customer service, but they also in many cases do prep work and assist kitchen staff when necessary. Most companies are bound by minimum wage to actually pay their staff a wage that is actually livable, but wait staff at time barely make over $2.00 an hour. In America wait staff relies on tips to make up for the lack in actual payment by the restaurant, but in the current economy people are tipping less and less and wait staff are forced live on less than minimum wage, at times 3-4$ an hour. Is this really fair? Should wait staff be forced to live on the goodwill of others when their next meal very well depends on the next table? The United States of America is The Most Powerful Nation in the World, yet other countries treat their wait staff better than we do. Canada pays their wait staff minimum wage of $5.00-$8.00 dollars and countries like Europe actually placed 15-20\% automatically in the bill to cover their wait staff with additional tips by the guest being and extra bonus to the waiter / server. Inflation is steadily going up as well as food prices and taxes, yet you expect us to survive at a time where those who are paid minimum wage are barely surviving themselves. We the undersigned feel that America should step up and require restaurants to pay their wait staff at least the federal minimum wage, at least in the cases where tips do not meet the federal minimum wage guidelines for all hours worked. Bill 219 was issued for possible approval by Congress in the year 2003 but never brought out thru advertisements for most wait staff to know about it. The Bill didn't pass nationwide but should be re-voted on and passed now as it is time to make a change. President Obama Barrack said it to America and now this needs to be part of that change.