Minimum Wage

"While the U.S. Congress raised its pay eight times over the past decade, it refused to raise the minimum wage above the current $5.15-an-hour level since 1997." - Lou Dobbs on CNN.com

How insane is this? How could ANYONE, much less elected officials, honestly feel that they have a pressing need for higher pay, while simultaneously feeling that people earning $5.15 an hour make enough money. I am outraged, appalled, and baffled by this fact. I cannot express the extent of those emotions that this elicits in me. Does anyone have an explanation?