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Elected Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called her future congressional colleagues, including the Democrats, for lower wages than those below the "living wage" and for hiring unpaid trainees, even if congressmen were paid several times more than the average American.
The New Democrat of New York, who has been working in the service sector to provide for herself and her family in the years leading up to her candidacy, tweeted Monday that she had met members of Congress who waited for additional tables to supplement their government salaries.
"This week, I went to downtown Washington DC for late-night meals, chatting with the staff, and there were several bartenders, directors, and wait staff * currently working in the Senate + in the House *." written . ]. "It's a shame."
Ocasio-Cortez argued that Congress should increase the salaries of staff members so that they can afford to continue living in Washington, one of the most expensive cities in the country. The 29-year-old legislator said she could not afford an apartment in the United States before her $ 174,000 congressional salary came into play in January.
"It is unfair for Congress to budget for a living wage, while using unpaid interns and overworked underpaid staff just because Republicans want to make a statement on" fiscal responsibility "" , she added in another tweet .
Read more: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Uses Instagram Stories to Take You Behind the Curtain of the Establishment of Washington, DC
Members of the House Earn Between $ 174,000 and $ 223,500 per year, and 40% of senators representatives are millionaires, according to a March 2018 call report. The median income of US households was $ 59,039 in 2017, according to the census.
The Ocio-Cortez tweet arrived just hours after a journalist noted that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, another Democrat from New York, recruited an unpaid intern. And his message may have had an immediate impact, because on Monday, Schumer's office announced that the position had been posted "by mistake" and that its trainees would receive an allowance at the new convention.
The Ocasio-Cortez Congress campaign rejected corporate donations. The newly elected Congresswoman – the youngest woman elected to Congress – has often criticized the influence of money on political life, the cost of her candidacy and lack of work. class representatives in American politics.
"Many members of Congress were born in or grew up around wealth," she told Bon Appetit last month. "How can you legislate a better life for workers if you've never been a worker?"
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