[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6706]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 139--CELEBRATING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FAMILY 
                     AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993

  Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Sanders, Mr. 
Casey, Mr. Franken, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Murphy, Ms. Warren, Mr. Baucus, 
Mr. Levin, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Reed, Mr. Schumer, Mr. 
Lautenberg, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Brown, Mr. Tester, Mrs. 
Shaheen, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Coons, Mr. Blumenthal, and Ms. Heitkamp) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:

                              S. Res. 139

       Whereas February 5, 2013, marks the 20th anniversary of the 
     enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 
     U.S.C. 2611 et seq.), which was signed by President Bill 
     Clinton;
       Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act is a landmark law, 
     and the first significant law to address the need of families 
     to balance work with family and health responsibilities;
       Whereas prior to the passage of the Family and Medical 
     Leave Act, employees often did not have access to leave from 
     work, or feared losing their jobs if they took leave, when 
     the employee or an immediate family member faced a serious 
     health condition, or when recovering from giving birth or 
     bonding with a new child;
       Whereas prior to the passage of the Family and Medical 
     Leave Act, women often faced employment discrimination based 
     on caregiving responsibilities and men often faced 
     discrimination in accessing family leave;
       Whereas the responsibility to care for seriously ill family 
     members and to bond with a newborn or newly adopted child is 
     recognized, respected, and expected throughout the United 
     States;
       Whereas Congress worked in a bipartisan manner to craft the 
     Family and Medical Leave Act;
       Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act was the 
     culmination of years of hard work and is a lasting legacy for 
     Senators Chris Dodd and Kit Bond and Representatives Pat 
     Schroeder and Marge Roukema, among many others;
       Whereas the purposes of the Family and Medical Leave Act 
     are--
       (1) to balance the demands of the workplace with the needs 
     of families;
       (2) to promote the stability and economic security of 
     families;
       (3) to promote national interests in preserving family 
     integrity;
       (4) to entitle employees to take reasonable leave for 
     medical reasons, the birth or adoption of a child, and the 
     care of a child, spouse, or parent with a serious health 
     condition;
       (5) to accomplish the purposes described in paragraphs (1) 
     through (4) in a manner that accommodates the legitimate 
     interests of employers and minimizes the potential for 
     employment discrimination on the basis of sex; and
       (6) to promote the goal of equal employment opportunity for 
     women and men;
       Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act allows an employee 
     to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to bond with a newborn 
     or newly adopted child, to care for a child, spouse, or 
     parent with a serious health condition, and to tend to a 
     serious health condition of the employee;
       Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act benefits newborn 
     or newly adopted children by creating strong family bonds, 
     allowing families time to make arrangements for future 
     caregiving, and promoting the establishment of healthy 
     practices such as breastfeeding;
       Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act provides job 
     security and peace of mind for individuals and families 
     struggling with a difficult diagnosis or other serious health 
     condition;
       Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act allows individuals 
     to provide care for family members directly, strengthening 
     families and benefitting society by reducing costs to 
     taxpayer-funded programs;
       Whereas Congress recognized the unique family needs of 
     military families and acted with bipartisan support in 
     enacting the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
     Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181; 122 Stat. 3) and the National 
     Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (Public Law 
     111-84; 123 Stat. 2190) to expand the protections of the 
     Family and Medical Leave Act to meet the needs of military 
     families;
       Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act allows leave to 
     deal with qualifying exigencies arising from the deployment 
     of a family member to covered active duty in the United 
     States Armed Forces;
       Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 26 
     weeks of leave to care for a member of the Armed Forces or 
     recent veteran who was seriously injured or became seriously 
     ill because of active duty in the United States Armed Forces;
       Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act helps the United 
     States to fulfill the responsibility to support military 
     families and care for wounded warriors; and
       Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act has been invoked 
     more than 100,000,000 times, allowing millions of families to 
     attend to both work and family responsibilities: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes and honors the 20th anniversary of the 
     enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 
     U.S.C. 2611 et seq.);
       (2) salutes all of the individuals who contributed to the 
     enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Act;
       (3) encourages all individuals in the United States to 
     celebrate the advance of workplace protections and 
     opportunities made possible by the enactment of the Family 
     and Medical Leave Act; and
       (4) pledges to continue to work on a bipartisan basis to 
     ensure that all individuals in the United States are able to 
     balance work and family responsibilities.

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