[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 117 (Thursday, July 30, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8561-S8562]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DODD (for himself, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Murray, and Mr. 
        Lieberman):
  S. 1543. A bill to amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and 
title 5, United States Code, to provide leave for family members of 
members of regular components of the Armed Forces, and leave to care 
for covered veterans, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce The Supporting 
Military Families Act of 2009.
  The sacrifices made by our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and 
Coast Guard are matched only by those made by their families. When a 
loved one is serving abroad, and in cases where he or she returns 
wounded, it can take an immense emotional toll on a family.
  But it does not have to take an equally staggering economic toll.
  The bill I introduce today clarifies and improves upon provisions 
included in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, which 
provided important benefits for family members of our brave service men 
and women.
  More than 20 years ago, I began the effort to bring job protection to 
hard-working Americans so they wouldn't have to choose between the 
family they love and the job they need. This effort, after more than 
seven years, three presidents, and two vetoes, eventually led to the 
enactment of the Family Medical Leave Act, FMLA, which provides 12 
weeks of unpaid leave for eligible employees so they may care for a 
newborn or adopted child, their own serious illness, or that of a loved 
one. Since its passage, I have worked to expand this Act to cover more 
workers and to provide for paid leave, so that more employees can 
afford to take leave when necessary.
  We must also ensure that we care for the health and well-being of our 
war heroes, many of whom return from deployment with serious injuries 
and illnesses. Two years ago, I introduced legislation to provide up to 
6 months of FMLA leave for primary caregivers of servicemembers who 
suffer from a combat-related injury or illness. The FMLA currently 
provides three months of unpaid leave to a spouse, parent, or child 
acting as a caregiver for a person with a serious illness. However, 
some of those injured in service to our country rely on other family 
members or friends to care for them as they recover, and many of these 
injuries take longer than 3 months to heal from. That is why, following 
a recommendation of the President's Commission on Care for America's 
Returning Wounded Warriors, headed by former Senator Bob Dole and 
former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, I offered 
this legislation. It was included in the 2008 National Defense 
Authorization Act, along with another provision providing exigency 
leave for servicemembers' families, which allows the families of 
deployed servicemembers to take leave to manage their family or 
personal affairs.
  These two provisions were important steps toward giving our 
servicemembers and their families the support they need during 
extremely challenging times. The legislation I introduce today builds 
on those efforts and will accomplish three things. First, a number of 
service-related illnesses and injuries may not manifest themselves 
until after a servicemember has left the military, including traumatic 
brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder. This bill extends the 
annual 26 weeks of unpaid leave to family members of veterans for up to 
five years after a veteran leaves service, if the

[[Page S8562]]

veteran develops a service-related serious injury or illness that he or 
she needs time to recover from. Second, this legislation extends 
eligibility for exigency leave to those deployed to a foreign country, 
and not only in support of a contingency operation, in order to provide 
the benefit to all of those families who struggle with the challenges 
of a deployment. Finally, the DOL regulations limited access to 
exigency leave to Reserve and National Guard members only. This was not 
the intent of the initial legislation, and this bill extends exigency 
leave to cover all active duty members who are deployed to a foreign 
country.
  I am pleased that my colleagues Senators Kennedy, Lieberman, and 
Murray are joining me in introducing the Supporting Military Families 
Act of 2009.
                                 ______