III 109th CONGRESS 2d Session S. RES. 403 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 16 (legislative day, March 15), 2006 Mr. Durbin submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions RESOLUTION Recognizing the benefits of breastfeeding, and for other purposes.

Whereas the Surgeon General and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that most babies be exclusively fed with breast milk for the first 6 months of life, and continue on with breast milk through the first year of life; Whereas studies have shown that children who were breastfed had a 20 percent lower risk of dying in the first year of life than children who were not breastfed; Whereas promoting breastfeeding can potentially prevent up to 720 postneonatal deaths in the United States each year; Whereas breast milk provides the right balance of nutrients to help an infant grow into a strong and healthy toddler, improves the chances of infant survival, and helps protect against common childhood illnesses and infections; Whereas research also suggests that breastfeeding may be protective against chronic diseases such as type I and type II diabetes, leukemia, and obesity; Whereas breast milk contains important amino acids, only found in natural breast milk, that help an infant’s brain develop; Whereas maternal benefits to breastfeeding include decreased postpartum bleeding, decreased risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and decreased risk of postmenopausal osteoporosis; Whereas the health advantages for mothers and children of breastfeeding translate into economic benefits for the family, health care system, and workplace; Whereas breastfeeding more children would reduce medical care costs, decrease spending for public health programs such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and decrease parental absenteeism; Whereas breastfeeding more children would have an environmental benefit by reducing trash and plastic waste from formula cans and bottle supplies; Whereas 1 of the objectives for improving health in Focus Area 16, Maternal, Infant, and Child Health, from Healthy People 2010, is to increase the percentage of mothers who breastfeed to 75 percent in the postpartum period, 50 percent 6 months after birth, and 25 percent 1 year after birth; and Whereas throughout the United States, mothers have encountered legal and systematic challenges while trying to breastfeed in public and upon returning to work when seeking out adequate places to express milk in the workplace: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate— (1)recognizes the unique health, economic, and social benefits breastfeeding affords to children, mothers, and the community at large; and (2)calls upon States to take steps to protect a mother’s right to breastfeed and remove the barriers faced by women who breastfeed.