WASHINGTON, March 5 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Friday issued the following statement after the Senate failed to advance an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour over a five year period:

“At a time when millions of people are working for starvation wages, when the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour has not been raised by Congress since 2007, when the President of the United States and the House of Representatives support it, it is absolutely imperative that the Senate approve an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour. If any Senator believes this is the last time they will cast a vote on whether or not to give a raise to 32 million Americans, they are sorely mistaken. We’re going to keep bringing it up, and we’re going to get it done because it is what the American people demand and need.”