WASHINGTON, DC In this weeks address, the President highlighted small business owners across the country acting to raise wages for their workers, and called on Congress to give America a raise so more hard-working Americans have the opportunity to get ahead.

The audio of the address and video of the address will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 a.m. ET, Saturday, April 26, 2014.

Remarks of President Barack Obama Weekly Address The White House April 26, 2014

Hi, everybody. In my State of the Union Address, I talked about pizza. More specifically, I talked about a pizza chain in Minneapolis Punch Pizza whose owner, John Soranno, made the business decision to give his employees a raise to ten bucks an hour.

A couple weeks ago, I got a letter from a small business owner who watched that night. Yasmin Ibrahim is an immigrant who owns her own restaurant Desi Shack and plans to open another this summer.

Heres what she wrote. I was moved by John Sorannos story. It got me thinking about my full-time employees and their ability to survive on $8 an hour in New York City. So a few weeks ago, Yasmin put in place a plan to lift wages for her employees at both her restaurants to at least $10 an hour by the end of this year.

But heres the thing Yasmin isnt just raising her employees wages because its the right thing to do. Shes doing it for the same reason John Soranno did. It makes good business sense.

Yasmin wrote, It will allow us to attract and retain better talent improving customer experience, reducing employee churn and training costs. We believe doing so makes good business sense while at the same time having a positive impact on the community.

Yasmin's right. Thats why, two months ago, I issued an Executive Order requiring workers on new federal contracts to be paid a fair wage of at least ten dollars and ten cents an hour.

But in order to make a difference foreveryAmerican, Congress needs to do something. And America knows it. Right now, theres a bill that would boost Americas minimum wage to ten dollars and ten cents an hour. That would lift wages for nearly 28 million Americans across the country. 28 million. And were not just talking about young people on their first job. The average minimum wage worker is 35 years old. They work hard, often in physically demanding jobs.

And while not all of us always see eye to eye politically, one thing we overwhelmingly agree on is that nobody who works full-time should ever have to live in poverty. Thats why nearly three in four Americans support raising the minimum wage. The problem is, Republicans in Congress dont support raising the minimum wage. Some even want to get rid of it entirely. In Oklahoma, for example, the Republican governor just signed a law prohibiting cities from establishing their own minimum wage.

Thats why this fight is so important. Thats why people like John and Yasmin are giving their workers a raise. Thats why several states, counties, and cities are going around Congress to raise their workers wages. Thats why Ill keep up this fight. Because we know that our economy works best when it works for all of us not just a fortunate few. We believe we do better when everyone who works hard has a chance to get ahead. Thats what opportunity is all about.

And if you agree with us, we could use your help. Republicans have voted more than 50 times to undermine or repeal health care for millions of Americans. They should vote at least once to raise the minimum wage for millions of working families. If a Republican in Congress represents you, tell him or her its time to give the politics a rest for a while and do something to help working Americans. Its time for ten-ten. Its time to give America a raise.

Thanks, and have a great weekend.