BOSTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is praising Massachusetts lawmakers for “standing up for working men and women” and approving a bill that would raise the state’s $8 per hour minimum wage to $11 per hour by 2017.

Obama said Thursday he looks forward to Gov. Deval Patrick, a fellow Democrat, signing the bill. He urged Congress to follow Massachusetts’ lead and “lift wages for 28 million Americans by raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10.”