[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 6, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H1371-H1372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





             FAIRNESS FOR BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS ACT OF 2019

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 866) to provide a lactation room in public buildings.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 866

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Fairness For Breastfeeding 
     Mothers Act of 2019''.

     SEC. 2. LACTATION ROOM IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

       (a) Lactation Room in Public Buildings.--Chapter 33 of 
     title 40, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
     the following new section:

     ``Sec. 3318. Lactation room in public buildings

       ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
       ``(1) Appropriate authority.--The term `appropriate 
     authority' means the head of a Federal agency, the Architect 
     of the Capitol, or other official authority responsible for 
     the operation of a public building.
       ``(2) Covered public building.--The term `covered public 
     building' means a public building (as defined in section 
     3301) that is open to the public and contains a public 
     restroom, and includes a building listed in section 6301 or 
     5101.
       ``(3) Lactation room.--The term `lactation room' means a 
     hygienic place, other than a bathroom, that--
       ``(A) is shielded from view;
       ``(B) is free from intrusion; and
       ``(C) contains a chair, a working surface, and, if the 
     public building is otherwise supplied with electricity, an 
     electrical outlet.
       ``(b) Lactation Room Required.--Except as provided in 
     subsection (c), the appropriate authority of a covered public 
     building shall ensure that the building contains a lactation 
     room that is made available for use by members of the public 
     to express breast milk.
       ``(c) Exceptions.--A covered public building may be 
     excluded from the requirement in subsection (b) at the 
     discretion of the appropriate authority if--
       ``(1) the public building--
       ``(A) does not contain a lactation room for employees who 
     work in the building; and
       ``(B) does not have a room that could be repurposed as a 
     lactation room or a space that could be made private using 
     portable materials, at a reasonable cost; or
       ``(2) new construction would be required to create a 
     lactation room in the public building and the cost of such 
     construction is unfeasible.
       ``(d) No Unauthorized Entry.--Nothing in this section shall 
     be construed to authorize an individual to enter a public 
     building or portion thereof that the individual is not 
     otherwise authorized to enter.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of chapter 33 of title 40, United States Code, is 
     amended by inserting after the item related to section 3316 
     the following new item:

``3318. Lactation room in public buildings.''.

       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall take effect 1 year after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) and the gentleman from Michigan 
(Mr. Mitchell) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia.


                             General Leave

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on H.R. 866.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, today I rise in support of my bill, the Fairness For 
Breastfeeding Mothers Act of 2019, a bill that would require buildings 
that are either federally owned or leased to provide designated private 
and hygienic lactation spaces for nursing mothers.
  The House passed this bill by voice vote when I offered it last 
Congress. The House also passed this bill in the 114th Congress as an 
amendment to the Public Buildings Reform and Savings Act of 2016. I 
appreciate the prior support of my colleagues, and I hope they will 
join me today in support of this important legislation once again.
  For years, Federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have 
encouraged breastfeeding. The benefits are so great that the Affordable 
Care Act amended Federal law to require employers to provide a 
designated, non-bathroom space for returning employees to pump breast 
milk for their newborns, ensuring that new mothers would be able to 
continue the essential practice even after returning to work.
  My bill would extend this requirement to include not only employees, 
but visitors and guests to Federal facilities across the Nation. 
Actually, Federal facilities visited by millions of Americans and 
others should lead the way.
  My bill does not require the expenditure of Federal funds or require 
space to be mandated. It would simply allow visitors to Federal 
buildings to make use of spaces that are already available to Federal 
employees or to access similar spaces within those buildings.
  In Washington, D.C., alone, there are millions of tourists who visit 
Federal sites, such as the Lincoln Memorial and the Smithsonian 
Institution. Increasingly, families understand the unique benefits of 
breastfeeding as encouraged by Federal agencies and programs, and 
visitors to these buildings who have newborns and babies should have a 
private space to breastfeed or pump.
  The benefits of breastfeeding are well-documented. Breast milk 
contains antibodies and hormones that boost babies' immune systems. 
Studies have shown lower risks of asthma, diabetes, respiratory 
infections, and other diseases among breastfed babies.

                              {time}  1230

  Breastfeeding also has benefits for nursing mothers, who, research 
has shown, have lower risks of diabetes and certain forms of cancer.
  Given the significant health benefits of breastfeeding for both baby 
and mother already recognized in Federal policy, my bill is a logical 
step to ensure that visitors to Federal sites have access to clean, 
hygienic, and private spaces to nurse or pump.
  It is also important to ensure that lactation spaces are accessible 
to individuals with disabilities. While the Americans with Disabilities 
Act does not apply to Federal buildings, the lactation spaces required 
by my bill would be subject to a similar law, the Architectural 
Barriers Act, which requires buildings and facilities that are 
designed, built, or altered with Federal dollars or leased by Federal 
agencies, to be accessible to individuals with disabilities whenever 
possible.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important 
legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MITCHELL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I join my colleague in support of H.R. 866, which 
provides that federally managed buildings or federally owned buildings 
open to the public nursing rooms that are available.
  The bill would apply to buildings that are already open to the public 
and which have nursing rooms for employees yet somehow do not manage to 
provide those to the general public, and they should. The requirements 
would not apply if the existing space cannot feasibly be opened.
  As the gentlewoman notes, it does not create additional cost.
  The legislation passed the House last Congress by voice vote and, if 
enacted, will help visiting mothers to our facilities in both the 
capital here and throughout the Nation.
  Madam Speaker, I urge support for this legislation, and I urge the 
Senate to finally take up this legislation. To move it forward, I join 
my colleague in saying that it is about time that we open up the 
nursing rooms in Federal facilities to the general public in support of 
the care of newborns and young children.
  Madam Speaker, I have no remaining speakers, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, we have had this act come up in a 
Republican House. It has now come up in a Democratic House. What more 
do we need in order for it to be clear that this is, shall we say, 
motherhood legislation and that the whole House is for it?
  Madam Speaker, I have no remaining speakers, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 866.

[[Page H1372]]

  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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