The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 is a US Act of Congress that amended the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to gradually raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour. It was signed into law on May 25, 2007 as part of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007. The act raised the federal minimum wage in 3 increments: to $5.85 per hour 60 days after enactment (July 24, 2007), to $6.55 per hour a year later (July 24, 2008), and finally to $7.25 per hour two years later (July 24, 2009). In addition, the act provided for the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa to make the transition to the federal minimum wage on alternate timetables. As of 2008, 13 states already had minimum wage rates at or above $7.25 per hour. These states were therefore unaffected by the increase. Legislative history The act was a component of the new Democratic majority's 100-Hour Plan in the United States House of Representatives. It was introduced into the House on January 5, 2007, by George Miller (D-CA) and it was passed by the House on January 10. All 233 House Democrats voted "Aye," and 82 Republicans joined them. 116 Republican representatives voted "No," and 4 representatives did not vote. President Bush advised that the bill should include tax cuts for small businesses that could be harmed by the wage increase, and on January 24, 2007, a cloture motion in the Senate failed as 43 Republican Senators (all but 5) rejected the bill without the tax cuts, opposing all 47 Democrats who were present for the vote. Once tax cuts were added to the bill, the Senate passed the amended bill 94-3 (3 Republicans opposed and 1 did not vote; 2 Democrats did not vote) on February 1, 2007. The act initially did not amend the Fair Labor Standards Act in regards to American Samoa—its minimum wage would have continued to be set by a committee appointed by the U.S. Department of Labor until changes were made to the act. After accusations by Republican lawmakers that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was unethical because Del Monte (parent company of StarKist Tuna which owns one of the two tuna canneries in Samoa) is based in her district, she instructed a House committee to have Samoa be included. Samoa's