[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 20, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S3347]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HEALTHY FAMILIES ACT

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, on Thursday, March 15, 2007, I proudly 
joined Senator Kennedy as a cosponsor of the Healthy Families Act. This 
legislation will provide full-time employees with up to 7 paid sick 
days a year so that they can take care of their own medical needs or 
the medical needs of family members. Part-time employees would receive 
a pro-rata amount of paid sick leave. All employers--public and 
private--with at least 15 employees would be covered by the Healthy 
Families Act.
  Today, 57 million workers in the United States do not have paid sick 
days. Thus, when faced with either a personal or family medical issue, 
they are forced to choose between caring for themselves or their loved 
ones and going to work to keep food on the table and a paycheck in the 
mail. This is not acceptable. People get sick every day. They should 
have the right to get medical treatment without jeopardizing their jobs 
or harming the people around them. The Healthy Families Act would 
guarantee them that right.
  According to Harvard University's Global Working Families Project, 
139 nations provide some sort of paid sick days; 177 of those nations 
guarantee at least a week of annual sick pay. The United States, 
however, has no such guarantee--the federal Family and Medical Leave 
Act provides only unpaid sick leave for serious personal or family 
illnesses. This lack of paid sick leave puts our Nation's workforce, 
both present and future, at risk.
  As ranking member of the Committee on Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship, I am extremely conscious of the regulatory burden 
that our businesses face--particularly our small businesses. I believe 
that government should avoid weighing down small businesses with 
unnecessary regulations. However, the more I have examined this issue, 
the more obvious it becomes that this legislation benefits both 
employees and employers.
  It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that healthy 
employees are the key to a productive and vibrant economy. Healthy 
employees are more productive and often more efficient. But, without 
paid sick days, many employees will go to work rather than take time 
off to get regular preventative medical checkups or to recover from an 
attacking illness or to care for a sick child. Thus, they will get sick 
more often, and their illnesses will spread. Employees who opt to come 
to work when sick can make their condition worse or even spread their 
illness to coworkers. For a business, it is far more costly to cope 
with a depleted staff or to search for a replacement when an employee 
is suffering from an extended illness than it is to provide just 7 sick 
days. Providing employees with a small number of paid sick days is a 
simple and commonsense fix that will save businesses time and money.
  In addition, I have heard that small businesses often complain that 
they want to offer this benefit but are unable to and need a level 
playing field. This legislation would offer them just that.
  Mr. President, I hope my colleagues will take a look at the Healthy 
Families Act and will join me in cosponsoring it.

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