[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16262]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   MAKING PROGRESS ON PAID SICK LEAVE

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                           HON. JIM McDERMOTT

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 27, 2011

  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support employers and 
businesses that provide paid sick leave to American workers across the 
country. Workers should be able to take care of themselves or family 
members who are sick without risking losing their jobs or a day's 
wages. The businesses in my district have worked closely with the City 
of Seattle, and particularly Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata, to 
be leaders on this issue. I want to commend the City of Seattle for 
recently adopting paid sick leave for workers, demonstrating direct 
support for working families and protecting public health. Seattle 
joins with San Francisco, Milwaukee, Washington, DC and Connecticut in 
taking a big step to ease some of the burden on working families. I 
also applaud the work of the many coalitions across the country that 
are building support for implementing paid sick leave for the forty-
four million workers who cannot take the time off they need.
  Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut recently sponsored H.R. 
1876, The Healthy Families Act, which I support. This piece of 
legislation requires certain employers to allow workers to earn an hour 
of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they work. The Healthy Families 
Act provides workers with the flexibility to address their own health 
needs as well as those of their family members. This Act also keeps 
public and private health care costs low by enabling workers and their 
families to seek early and routine medical care. This creates a vital 
safety net for working parents who shouldn't have to risk a day's wages 
or losing their jobs when they or their family members get sick. Thank 
you Mr. Speaker.

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