WASHINGTON, D.C. – While employees of fast-food restaurants have been staging strikes in seven cities this week for higher wages, Congress has yet to focus on raising the federal minimum wage, CNN Reports. In fact, the House hasn’t held a hearing so far this year on the matter.

But despite the lack of congressional interest, President Barack Obama is still pressing for a higher minimum wage. Last week in a speech, the president again pushed to raise the federal minimum wage to $9 per hour, up from the current $7.25 per hour. The renewed call came as part of Obama’s economic plan.

“Because no one who works full-time in America should have to live in poverty, I am going to keep making the case that we need to raise the minimum wage -- because it's lower right now than it was when Ronald Reagan took office. It's time for the minimum wage to go up,” said the president during a speech given at Knox College.

However, raising the minimum wage faces a steep hill to climb in Congress. In March, the House defeated an effort to hike the federal minimum wage.

Opponents to increasing the minimum wage say a higher starting point “makes it harder for unskilled workers to gain the labor market experience and on-the-job training that would raise their productivity and future pay,” said Stephen Bronars, an economist with Welch Consulting. “Unskilled workers are less attractive with a higher minimum wage because they produce less per hour and their hiring diverts more senior workers from revenue producing activities to training and supervision.”