This week in Washington (45 images)

Senator Bernie Sanders, I-V.T., tweeted after the event, "Just a few years ago, we were told that raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour was ‘radical.’ It is not a radical idea to say a job should lift you out of poverty, not keep you in it. We must increase the federal minimum wage from a starvation wage of $7.25 to $15 an hour." Photo by Alex Edelman/UPI

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said, "The harsh truth of the matter is that minimum wage is no longer a living wage. It's a poverty wage in so many places and towns across the country, and no American who works hard should live in poverty." Photo by Alex Edelman/UPI

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said, "The middle class and those who aspire to it are those we work for and that middle class is essential to the strength of our democracy." Photo by Alex Edelman/UPI

House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, said "What did we do in the last Congress? We took care of billionares and multi-millionares and multi-corperations before we reached out to those who are making the least." Photo by Alex Edelman/UPI