[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 44 (Thursday, April 14, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3668-S3670]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Dayton, Mr. 
        Durbin, Mr. Lautenberg, Ms. Mikulski, and Mrs. Murray):
  S. 798. A bill to amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and 
title 5, United States Code, to provide entitlement to leave to 
eligible employees whose spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a member 
of the Armed Forces who is serving on active duty in support of a 
contingency operation or who is notified of an impending call or order 
to active duty in support of a contingency operation, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I introduce legislation on behalf 
of myself and Senators Corzine, Dayton, Durbin, Lautenberg, Mikulski, 
and Murray, that would bring a small measure of relief to the families 
of our brave military personnel who are being deployed for the ongoing 
fight against terrorism, the war in Iraq, and other missions in this 
country and around the world. It is legislation that the Senate adopted 
unanimously when I offered it as an amendment to the fiscal year 2004 
Iraq supplemental spending bill and I think it would be very fitting 
for my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure again during 
this, the National Month of the Military Child.
  The men and women of our Armed Forces undertake enormous sacrifices 
in their service to our country. They spend time away from home and 
from their families in different parts of the country and different 
parts of the world and are placed into harm's way in order to protect 
the American people and our way of life. We owe them a huge debt of 
gratitude for their dedicated service.
  The ongoing deployments for the fight against terrorism and for the 
campaign in Iraq are turning upside down the lives of thousands of 
active duty, National Guard, and Reserve personnel and their families 
as they seek to do their duty to their country and honor their 
commitments to their families, and, in the case of the reserve 
components, to their employers as well. Today, there are more than 
180,000 National Guard and Reserve personnel on active duty.
  Some of my constituents are facing the latest in a series of 
activations and deployments for family members who serve our country in 
the military. Others are seeing their loved ones off on their first 
deployment. All of these families share in the worry and concern about 
what awaits their relatives and hope, as we do, for their swift and 
safe return.
  Many of those deployed in Iraq have had their tours extended beyond 
the time they had expected to stay. This extension has played havoc 
with the lives of those deployed and their families. Worried mothers, 
fathers, spouses, and children expecting their loved ones home after 
more than a year of service have been forced to wait another three or 
four months before their loved ones' much-anticipated homecoming. The 
emotional toll is huge. So is the impact on a family's daily 
functioning as bills still need to be paid, children need to get to 
school events, and sick family members must still be cared for.
  Our men and women in uniform face these challenges without complaint. 
But we should do more to help them and their families with the many 
things that preparing to be deployed requires.
  During the first round of mobilizations for operations in Afghanistan 
and Iraq, military personnel and their families were given only a 
couple of days' notice that their units would be deployed. As a result, 
these dedicated

[[Page S3669]]

men and women had only a very limited amount of time to get their lives 
in order. For members of the National Guard and Reserve, this included 
informing their employers of the deployment. I want to commend the many 
employers around the country for their understanding and support when 
their employees were called to active duty.
  In preparation for a deployment, military families often have to 
scramble to arrange for child care, to pay bills, to contact their 
landlords or mortgage companies, and to take care of other things that 
we deal with on a daily basis.
  The legislation I introduce today would allow eligible employees 
whose spouses, parents, sons, or daughters are military personnel who 
are serving on or called to active duty in support of a contingency 
operation to use their Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) benefits for 
issues directly relating to or resulting from that deployment. These 
instances could include preparation for deployment or additional 
responsibilities that family members take on as a result of a loved 
one's deployment, such as child care.
  But don't just take my word for it. Here is what the National 
Military Family Association has to say in a letter of support:

       (The National Military Family Association) has heard from 
     many families about the difficulty of balancing family 
     obligations with job requirements when a close family member 
     is deployed. Suddenly, they are single parents or, in the 
     case of grandparents, assuming the new responsibility of 
     caring for grandchildren. The days leading up to a deployment 
     can be filled with pre-deployment briefings and putting legal 
     affairs in order.

  In that same letter, the National Military Family Association states 
that, ``Military families, especially those of deployed service 
members, are called upon to make extraordinary sacrifices. (The 
Military Families Leave Act) offers families some breathing room as 
they adjust to this time of separation.''
  On July 21, 2004, then-Governor Joseph Kernan of Indiana testified 
before a joint hearing of the Senate Health, Labor, Education, and 
Pensions and Armed Services committees that Congress should revise FMLA 
to include activated National Guard families, as recommended by the 
National Governors' Association. The legislation I introduce today 
would give many military families some of the assistance Governor 
Kernan spoke of.
  Let me make sure there is no confusion about what this legislation 
does and does not do. This legislation does not expand eligibility for 
FMLA to employees not already covered by FMLA. It does not expand FMLA 
eligibility to active duty military personnel. It simply allows those 
already covered by FMLA to use those benefits in one additional set of 
circumstances--to deal with issues directly related to or resulting 
from the deployment of a family member.
  I was proud to cosponsor and vote for the legislation that created 
the landmark Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) during the early days 
of my service to the people of Wisconsin as a member of this body. This 
important legislation allows eligible workers to take up to 12 weeks of 
unpaid leave per year for the birth or adoption of child, the placement 
of a foster child, to care for a newborn or newly adopted child or 
newly placed foster child, or to care for their own serious health 
condition or that of a spouse, a parent, or a child. Some employers 
offer a portion of this time as paid leave in addition to other accrued 
leave, while others allow workers to use accrued vacation or sick leave 
for this purpose prior to going on unpaid leave.
  Since its enactment in 1993, the FMLA has helped more than 35 million 
American workers to balance responsibilities to their families and 
their jobs. According to the Congressional Research Service, between 
2.2 million and 6.1 million people took advantage of these benefits in 
1999-2000.
  Our military families sacrifice a great deal. Active duty families 
often move every couple of years due to transfers and new assignments. 
The twelve years since FMLA' s enactment has also been a time where we 
as a country have relied more heavily on National Guard and Reserve 
personnel for more and more deployments of longer and longer duration. 
The growing burden on these service members' families must be 
addressed, and this legislation is one way to do so.
  This legislation has the support of a number of organizations, 
including the Wisconsin National Guard, the Military Officers 
Association of America, the Enlisted Association of the National Guard 
of the United States, the Reserve Enlisted Association, the Reserve 
Officers Association, the National Military Family Association, the 
National Council on Family Relations, and the National Partnership for 
Women and Families. The Military Coalition, an umbrella organization of 
31 prominent military organizations, specified this legislation as one 
of five meriting special consideration during the fiscal year 2004 Iraq 
supplemental debate.
  We owe it to our military personnel and their families to do all we 
can to support them in this difficult time. I hope that this 
legislation will bring a small measure of relief to our military 
families and I urge my colleagues to support it.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of my bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 798

       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 ``Military Families Leave Act 
     of 2005''.

     SEC. 2. LEAVE FOR MILITARY FAMILIES UNDER THE FAMILY AND 
                   MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993.

       (a) Entitlement to Leave.--Section 102(a)(1) of the Family 
     and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
       ``(E) Because of any qualifying exigency (as the Secretary 
     may by regulation determine) arising out of the fact that the 
     spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent of the employee is on 
     active duty (or has been notified of an impending call or 
     order to active duty) in the Armed Forces in support of a 
     contingency operation.''.
       (b) Intermittent or Reduced Leave Schedule.--Section 
     102(b)(1) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2612(b)(1)) is amended by 
     inserting after the second sentence the following new 
     sentence: ``Subject to subsection (e)(3) and section 103(f), 
     leave under subsection (a)(1)(E) may be taken intermittently 
     or on a reduced leave schedule.''.
       (c) Substitution of Paid Leave.--Section 102(d)(2)(A) of 
     such Act (29 U.S.C. 2612(d)(2)(A)) is amended by striking 
     ``or (C)'' and inserting ``(C), or (E)''.
       (d) Notice.--Section 102(e) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2612(e)) 
     is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(3) Notice for leave due to active duty of family 
     member.--In any case in which the necessity for leave under 
     subsection (a)(1)(E) is foreseeable based on notification of 
     an impending call or order to active duty in support of a 
     contingency operation, the employee shall provide such notice 
     to the employer as is reasonable and practicable.''.
       (e) Certification.--Section 103 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 
     2613) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
     subsection:
       ``(f) Certification for Leave Due to Active Duty of Family 
     Member.--An employer may require that a request for leave 
     under section 102(a)(1)(E) be supported by a certification 
     issued at such time and in such manner as the Secretary shall 
     by regulation prescribe. If the Secretary issues a regulation 
     requiring such certification, the employee shall provide, in 
     a timely manner, a copy of such certification to the 
     employer.''.
       (f) Definition.--Section 101 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2611) 
     is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(14) Contingency operation.--The term `contingency 
     operation' has the same meaning given such term in section 
     101(a)(13) of title 10, United States Code.''.

     SEC. 3. LEAVE FOR MILITARY FAMILIES UNDER TITLE 5, UNITED 
                   STATES CODE.

       (a) Entitlement to Leave.--Section 6382(a)(1) of title 5, 
     United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new subparagraph:
       ``(E) Because of any qualifying exigency (as defined under 
     section 6387) arising out of the fact that the spouse, or a 
     son, daughter, or parent, of the employee is on active duty 
     (or has been notified of an impending call or order to active 
     duty) in the Armed Forces in support of a contingency 
     operation.''.
       (b) Intermittent or Reduced Leave Schedule.--Section 
     6382(b)(1) of such title is amended by inserting after the 
     second sentence the following new sentence: ``Subject to 
     subsection (e)(3) and section 6383(f), leave under subsection 
     (a)(1)(E) may be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave 
     schedule.''.
       (c) Substitution of Paid Leave.--Section 6382(d) of such 
     title is amended by striking ``or (D)'' and inserting ``(D), 
     or (E)''.
       (d) Notice.--Section 6382(e) of such title is amended by 
     adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(3) In any case in which the necessity for leave under 
     subsection (a)(1)(E) is foreseeable based on notification of 
     an impending

[[Page S3670]]

     call or order to active duty in support of a contingency 
     operation, the employee shall provide such notice to the 
     employing agency as is reasonable and practicable.''.
       (e) Certification.--Section 6383 of such title is amended 
     by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(f) An employing agency may require that a request for 
     leave under section 6382(a)(1)(E) be supported by a 
     certification issued at such time and in such manner as the 
     employing agency may require.''.
       (f) Definition.--Section 6381 of such title is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (5)(B), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (2) in paragraph (6)(B), by striking the period at the end 
     and inserting ``; and''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(6) the term `contingency operation' has the same meaning 
     given such term in section 101(a)(13) of title 10.''.
                                 ______