[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3861 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3861

 To amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect breastfeeding by new 
                                mothers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 8, 2000

 Mrs. Maloney of New York (for herself, Mrs. Morella, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. 
  Shays, Mrs. Mink of Hawaii, Mr. Conyers, Mrs. Thurman, Ms. Sanchez, 
Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Ms. Millender-McDonald, Mr. Green of Texas, 
 Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Tierney, and Mr. Levin) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
                               Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect breastfeeding by new 
                                mothers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Pregnancy Discrimination Act 
Amendments of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Women with infants and toddlers are a rapidly growing 
        segment of labor force today.
            (2) Statistical surveys of families show that over 50 
        percent of mothers with children less than 1 year of age are in 
        the labor force.
            (3) The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that 
        mothers breastfeed for at least the 1st year of a child's life 
        and that arrangements be made to allow a mother's expressing of 
        milk if mother and child must separate.
            (4) Research studies show that children who are not 
        breastfed have higher rates of mortality, meningitis, some 
        types of cancers, asthma and other respiratory illnesses, 
        bacterial and viral infections, diarrhoeal diseases, ear 
        infections, allergies, and obesity.
            (5) Research studies have also shown that breastmilk and 
        breastfeeding have protective effects against the development 
        of a number of chronic diseases, including juvenile diabetes, 
        lymphomas, Crohn's disease, celiac disease, some chronic liver 
        diseases, and ulcerative colitis.
            (6) Maternal benefits of breastfeeding include a reduced 
        risk for postpartum hemorrhage and decreased risk for 
        developing osteoporosis, ovarian cancer, and premenopausal 
        breast cancer.
            (7) The health benefits to children from breastfeeding 
        translate into a threefold decrease in parental absenteeism due 
        to infant illness.
            (8) Congress intended to include breastfeeding and 
        expressing breast milk as protected conduct under the amendment 
        made by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 to title VII 
        of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
            (9) Although title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as 
        so amended, applies with respect to ``pregnancy, childbirth, or 
        related medical conditions'', a few courts have failed to reach 
        the conclusion that breastfeeding and expressing breast milk in 
        the workplace are covered by the such title.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to promote the health and well-being of infants whose 
        mothers return to the workplace after childbirth, and
            (2) to clarify that breastfeeding and expressing breast 
        milk in the workplace are protected conduct under the amendment 
        made by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 to title VII 
        of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO TITLE VII OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.

    Section 701(k) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e(k)) 
is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(including lactation)'' after 
        ``childbirth'', and
            (2) by adding at the end the following: ``For purposes of 
        this subsection, the term `lactation' means a condition that 
        may result in the feeding of a child directly from the breast 
        or the expressing of milk from the breast.''.
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