113 SRES 139 IS: Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.
U.S. Senate
2013-05-13
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
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
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.