[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 98 (Friday, June 26, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1587]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 24, 2009

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration of the bill (H.R. 2647) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2010 for military 
     activities of the Department of Defense, to prescribe 
     military personnel strengths for fiscal year 2010, and for 
     other purposes:

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Chair, while I cannot support H.R. 2647, this 
legislation does contain important provisions regarding family and 
medical leave for military families.
  Last session, Congress passed--also in a Defense Authorization bill--
legislation to provide military families with up to 26 weeks of leave 
under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to care for injured 
servicemembers. I had introduced this bill in the House, and its 
provisions implement one of the recommendations of the President's 
Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, chaired by 
Secretary Donna Shalala and Senator Bob Dole.
  Also included in the final legislation was an amendment introduced by 
Representative Altmire (with then Representative Udall) to provide up 
to 12 weeks of leave for military families who need this leave to deal 
with qualifying exigencies arising out of the deployment of a 
servicemember to Iraq or Afghanistan.
  Once this legislation became law, and the Bush Department of Labor 
issued regulations, we realized that corrections needed to be made to 
these FMLA provisions to truly effectuate their purpose to assist 
military families when these families need time off from work. Section 
585 of H.R. 2647 does just that; and clarifies:
  That family members of certain seriously ill and injured veterans are 
entitled to the 26 weeks of leave; and
  That the family members of regular active servicemembers (and not 
just reservists and members of the national guard) are entitled to 12 
weeks of leave for ``exigencies'' when they are deployed away from 
home.
  Finally, Section 585 provides that exigency leave will be available 
when a servicemember is to be deployed anywhere overseas and not just 
overseas in support of a contingency operation (e.g. Iraq or 
Afghanistan).
  The FMLA is intended to help individuals balance their family and 
work obligations. Millions of working people are now eligible for 
unpaid job protected leave. When the Act was passed in 1993, it was a 
giant step and is of great importance to working families.
  Since a majority of military spouses work, they too must balance work 
and family. They work to put food on the table and support their 
families. But they face additional challenges because their lives are 
disrupted by multiple deployments, involving not only reservists and 
members in the National Guard, but those servicemembers in regular 
active duty as well.
  The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in over 34,000 
casualties with many servicemembers being seriously wounded. These 
injured warriors need substantial support and care from their families, 
often for long periods of time, and some permanently. In addition, a 
recent Pentagon study found that 11 percent of Iraq veterans and 20 
percent of Afghanistan veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress 
syndrome, an often disabling condition.
  The expansion of the FMLA to include leave for military families was 
much needed. The provisions of Section 585 in H.R. 2647 help clarify 
the original intent of the law.

                          ____________________