Washington DC - Senator Bernie Sanders on Thursday introduced a bill calling for a federal minimum wage of $17 an hour.

Bernie Sanders announced at a press conference on Capitol Hill that he was proposing legislation to give the federal minimum wage, currently set at $7.25 an hour, a big boost.

The Vermont Independent said his former goal of $15 an hour would no longer suffice in the current environment of inflation.

"It is time to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. As chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, that is exactly what I intend to see happen," he said at the news conference.

Marjorie Taylor Greene Marjorie Taylor Greene threatens to expose GOP cover-ups if Matt Gaetz is opposed: "Let's all dance"

While many states have raised their minimum wage in recent years, $7.25 an hour still stands in 20 states – far below what is needed to keep many families above the poverty line.

"Nobody in this country can survive on $7.25 an hour," Sanders lamented. "Maybe some of my colleagues in Congress might want to live for a month on $7.25 an hour and see what’s that like."

Sanders' last effort to raise the federal minimum wage failed after eight Senate Democrats joined all Republicans in rejecting a 2021 proposal to include the increase in the $1.9-trillion American Rescue Plan.

Sanders said his Senate panel will mark up his new bill on June 14. Then he hopes it will go to the Senate floor, where it is unlikely to get the 10 Republican votes needed to overcome a filibuster.

Things don't look much better in the House of Representatives, where the Republican majority is unlikely to advance the proposed minimum wage increase.

Joe Biden Biden urged to use power to address mass incarceration before Trump takes office

Nevertheless, Sanders has called on his colleagues, regardless of their party affiliation, to do the right thing by US workers.

"This is not a red issue, not a blue issue; it’s an American issue," the senator insisted. "We’re going to push it as quickly and as hard we can."