President Clinton signed into law yesterday one of the few clear Democratic victories of the 104th Congress: an increase in the federal minimum wage, that will take the hourly wage from $4.25 to $5.15 by 1997.

President Bill Clinton: “Nobody who works full-time with kids in the home should be in poverty. If we want to really revolutionize America’s welfare system and move people from welfare to work and reward work, that is the first, ultimate test we all have to meet. If you get up every day and you go to work and you put in your time and you have kids in your home, you and your children will not be in poverty.”

The enactment of the first increase in the minimum wage in five years comes at a time when Clinton’s standing among progressives and advocates of the poor in his own party is weak because of his decision to sign the Republican plan to overhaul — or, many say, repeal — welfare. He’ll sign that bill tomorrow.