[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 148 (Wednesday, October 14, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2520-E2521]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2647, NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR 
                            FISCAL YEAR 2010

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 8, 2009

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I am proud that H.R. 2647 contains 
provisions of H.R. 3403, the Supporting Military Families Act, a bill 
that I introduced in the House earlier this year.
  In the 110th Congress, we passed and the President signed into law 
the first-ever changes to the Family Medical Leave Act, FMLA, 
permitting ``next of kin'' of seriously injured and ill servicemembers 
to take up to twenty-six weeks of unpaid leave to care for these 
injured and ill servicemembers. In addition, the legislation provides 
up to twelve weeks of leave to workers when their family servicemembers 
are about to be deployed overseas to attend to certain ``exigencies'' 
relating to deployment, such as arranging for alternate child care or 
going to a lawyer for a will.
  The legislation passed in the 110th Congress was a good start, 
however, it has some gaps in coverage, which H.R. 2647 addresses. Under 
these new provisions, a next of kin can take up to twenty-six weeks of 
unpaid leave to care for a seriously injured or ill veteran, so long as 
that veteran incurred the injury or illness while on active duty and 
the injury or illness manifests itself within five years of the

[[Page E2521]]

veteran's discharge from active duty. In addition, the twelve weeks of 
leave for ``exigencies'' relating to deployment includes not only leave 
for families of National Guard or Reservists in support of a 
contingency operation, but also leave for: (1) families of regular 
active duty servicemembers; and (2) families of those who have been 
deployed overseas.
  The FMLA is intended to help individuals balance their family and 
work obligations. So far, working people have used FMLA more than 100 
million times to care for themselves and their family members. When the 
Act was first passed in 1993, it was a giant step and, while we need to 
pass legislation to provide paid leave, FMLA is still 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 active 
servicemembers but those in the National Guard and Reserves as well.
  Over 35,000 servicemembers have been injured--many seriously--in the 
conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. These injured warriors need 
substantial support and care from their families, often for long 
periods of time, and some permanently.
  In addition, veterans of both conflicts are developing serious 
illnesses and injuries after they are discharged from active service. 
Brain injuries such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress 
syndrome are disabling conditions but often do not materialize until 
well after servicemembers have been discharged from active duty. A 
recent study by the Department of Defense estimates that 11 percent of 
Iraq veterans and 20 percent of Afghanistan veterans suffer from post-
traumatic stress syndrome as a result of their service.
  No matter where we come down on the merits of these conflicts, we 
must support families whose loved ones put their lives and their 
futures on the line for our nation. The provisions of H.R. 2647 will 
certainly help.

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