[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 87 (Thursday, June 11, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1377]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INTRODUCTION OF THE BREASTFEEDING PROMOTION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 11, 2009

  Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, today I am reintroducing an important 
piece of legislation, the Breastfeeding Promotion Act with my 
colleagues Mrs. Capps, Mr. Olver, Mr. Frank, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. 
Levin, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Snyder, Ms. Schwartz, and Mr. Moran.
  Statistical surveys of families show that over 50 percent of mothers 
with children less than one year of age are in the labor force. Whereas 
women with infants and toddlers are a rapidly growing segment of the 
labor force today, arrangements must be made to allow a mother's 
expressing of milk if mother and child must separate.
  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that mothers breastfeed 
exclusively for six months but continuing for at least the first year 
of a child's life. Research studies show that children who are not 
breastfed have higher rates of mortality, meningitis, some types of 
cancers, asthma and other respiratory illnesses, bacterial and viral 
infections, diarrhoeal diseases, ear infections, allergies, and 
obesity. There have also been numerous benefits to mothers shown, 
including improved bone mineralization, an earlier return to pre-
pregnancy weight, and decreased risk of certain cancers.
  Our bill will encourage and promote breastfeeding by removing common 
obstacles to breastfeeding and expressing milk in the workplace that 
many women face by: (1) amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to 
protect breastfeeding in the workplace, (2) providing tax incentives 
for businesses that establish private lactation areas in the workplace, 
(3) providing for a performance standard for breast pumps, (4) allowing 
breastfeeding equipment to be tax deductible for families, and (5) 
protecting the privacy of breastfeeding mothers.
  We urge all of our colleagues to support this important legislation.

                          ____________________