[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 7, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E57]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION TO EXPAND THE PROTECTIONS OF THE FAMILY AND 
                           MEDICAL LEAVE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM (BILL) CLAY

                              of Missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 7, 1997

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation to expand 
the protections afforded by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 
(FMLA). The legislation I am introducing is substantially similar to 
legislation introduced in the last Congress by our distinguished former 
colleague, Patricia Schroeder.
  The FMLA grants employees the right to unpaid leave in the event of a 
family or medical emergency without jeopardizing their jobs. As former 
chairman of the Subcommittee on Labor-Management Relations of the 
Committee on Education and Labor, I was privileged to work closely with 
pat Schroeder, the Hon. Marge Roukema, Senator Chris Dodd, our former 
colleague the Hon. William D. Ford, and others to bring about the 
enactment of this important law. Necessarily, many compromises were 
made to bring about this precedent setting legislation.
  Among the most important of those compromises was one that limited 
the applicability of the law to employers of 50 or more employees. My 
original intention had been to extend the law to employers of 25 or 
more employees. However, because of uncertainty regarding the impact of 
the law on employers and in order to increase support for the 
legislation, I agreed to accept the 50 employee threshold.
  The effect of this compromise was to leave approximately 15 million 
employees outside of the protections afforded by the FMLA. The fact 
that an employee may work for an employer of 40 rather than 50 people 
does not immunize that employee from the vicissitudes of life, nor 
diminish that employee's need for the protections afforded by the FMLA.
  The FMLA was signed into law on February 5, 1993. Experience has 
shown that the law does not unduly disrupt employer operations. Not 
only are the costs to employers of complying with the law negligible, 
but in many instances the FMLA has led to improvements in employer 
operations by improving employee morale and productivity, and by 
reducing employee turnover. Experiences has also shown that the 
protections afforded by the law are not only beneficial, but are 
essential in enabling workers to balance the demands of work and home 
when faced with a family or medical emergency. in short, we have now 
had sufficient experience under the law to justify extending the law to 
employers of 25 or more employees.
  Beyond expanding the number of workplaces that are protected by the 
FMLA, the bill I am introducing also allows workers to take up to 24 
hours of FMLA leave for the purpose of participating in school 
activities, to accompany children to routine dental or medical 
appointments, or to accompany an elderly relative to routine medical 
appointments or other professional services. The 24-hour provision was 
also originally a part of Mrs. Schroeder's legislation. However, I have 
modified those provisions to reflect a similar proposal that has been 
put forward by President Clinton. I urge my colleagues to support this 
legislation.

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