[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 139 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 139
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act of
1993.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 13, 2013
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
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act of
1993.
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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