[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 35 (Tuesday, March 18, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E500-E501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       THE INTRODUCTION OF THE PARENTAL LEAVE EQUITY ACT OF 1997

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 18, 1997

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce the Parental Equity Leave 
Act of 1997, a bill which will ensure that employees who choose to care 
for a foster child or adopt a child will benefit from the same leave 
policy as their coworkers who are birth parents. This bill

[[Page E501]]

does not mandate that employers provide leave benefits beyond existing 
law, but rather that if they choose to provide such benefits, they do 
so for all parents equitably. The bill does no more than remove 
discrimination against foster and adoptive parents at a time when 
Congress and the President are urging Americans to come forward in far 
greater numbers as foster and adoptive parents. Because the employers 
who offer leave benefits beyond existing law are generally larger 
businesses and the number of children is very small, the bill will not 
burden employers and the costs will barely register.
  The Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 [FMLA] provides that employers 
must grant up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for adoptive, 
birth, and foster parents to care for a new child. Although some 
employers go beyond the mandate of the act and provide additional 
parental benefits, such as paid leave or the use of sick leave by 
employees with a newborn, they often extend such benefits only to birth 
parents and not to foster parents or parents who adopt. My bill merely 
tracks the FMLA, correcting this inequity by providing that if an 
employer allows additional leave benefits for the birth of a child, the 
employer must not discriminate against the parents of a foster child or 
an adopted child, but must provide the same leave. Thus, my bill does 
not require employers to provide leave policies beyond the requirements 
of the FMLA, but provides only for equal treatment for adoptive and 
foster parents, in keeping with the intent of the original legislation.
  The reasons for granting parental leave to both foster and adoptive 
parents overlap and merge, but both need the same leave benefits as 
birth parents, perhaps more so. There is an acute foster care crisis in 
the United States, with many more children in need of such care than 
there are foster or adoptive parents. Foster children are generally 
older children who have been removed from their own homes. Often they 
are children with specific needs. Increasingly, they have been abused 
or have parents with debilitating problems such as drug abuse and are 
hard to place. Thus, a foster parent will normally have a greater 
challenge of adjustment than a birth parent. A foster parent must 
acclimate to a child who already has set habits and personality traits. 
The foster child is sometimes intimidated by being thrust into her new 
surroundings. She may have come from dangerous or even life-threatening 
circumstances. In addition, foster care systems, especially those in 
large cities often are in great disrepair. A recent GAO study reported 
disgraceful circumstances for the care of many of these youngsters, a 
situation that is pervasive throughout the United States. The wreckage 
left behind by failed foster care systems is often reflected in the 
lives of foster children. They clearly need their parents in their new 
home as much, and probably more than the newborns who are the major 
recipients of the FMLA.
  Adopted children are generally not as old as foster care children and 
may not generally come to their new families from troubled 
circumstances. However, because most adoptive parents are caring for an 
infant or young child, their situation is similar to the parents of 
newborns. There is no reason, therefore, to treat them differently than 
birth parents.
  There are few foster or adoptive parents in any single workplace, 
guaranteeing that the effects on the employer would be small, in 
keeping with the policy of the FMLA. I urge my colleagues to support 
this bill to help ensure that foster parents and adoptive parents 
receive the same opportunity as birth parents to bond with a new child 
and to acclimate that child to her new family and surroundings.

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