II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1463 

To amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect breastfeeding by new 

mothers and to provide for reasonable break time for nursing mothers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2011 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. HARKIN, and Mr. BEGICH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect 

breastfeeding by new mothers and to provide for reasonable break time for nursing mothers. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2011’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 

Sec. 101. Findings; purposes. 


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Sec. 102. Amendments to title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

TITLE II—REASONABLE BREAK TIME 

Sec. 201. Reasonable break time for nursing mothers. 

1 TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO THE 

2 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 

3 SEC. 101. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Women with infants and toddlers are a rap6 idly growing segment of the labor force today. 

7 (2) Statistical surveys of families show that 

8 over 50 percent of mothers with children less than 

9 1 year of age are in the labor force. 

10 (3) All major medical authorities recommend 

11 that mothers breastfeed exclusively for 6 months and 

12 continue breastfeeding for at least the first year of 

13 a child’s life, and that arrangements be made to 

14 allow a mother’s expressing of milk if mother and 

15 child must separate. 

16 (4) Research studies show that children who are 

17 not breastfed have an increased risk of common 

18 childhood illnesses, such as ear infections, eczema, 

19 and diarrhea and vomiting, and of more serious dis20 eases including severe lower respiratory infections, 

21 leukemia, and sudden infant death syndrome 

22 (SIDS). 


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1 (5) Research studies have also shown that chil2 dren who are not breastfed have an increased risk 

3 of a number of chronic diseases, including type 2 di4 abetes, asthma, and childhood obesity. 

5 (6) Exclusive breastfeeding and longer dura6 tions of breastfeeding are also associated with better 

7 maternal health outcomes, including a reduced risk 

8 of ovarian cancer and breast cancer. 

9 (7) The health benefits to children from 

10 breastfeeding translate into a decrease in parental 

11 absenteeism due to infant illness. One-day absences 

12 to care for sick children occur more than twice as 

13 often for mothers of formula feeding infants. 

14 (8) Congress intended to include breastfeeding 

15 and expressing breast milk as protected conduct 

16 under the amendment made to title VII of the Civil 

17 Rights Act of 1964 by the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to 

18 amend title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to 

19 prohibit sex discrimination on the basis of preg20 nancy’’, approved October 31, 1978 (commonly 

21 known as the ‘‘Pregnancy Discrimination Act’’). 

22 (9) Although title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 

23 1964, as so amended, applies with respect to ‘‘preg24 nancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions’’, a 

25 few courts have failed to reach the conclusion that 


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1 breastfeeding and expressing breast milk in the 

2 workplace are covered by such title. 

3 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are— 

4 (1) to promote the health and well-being of in5 fants whose mothers return to the workplace after 

6 childbirth; and 

7 (2) to clarify that breastfeeding and expressing 

8 breast milk in the workplace are protected conduct 

9 under the amendment made by the Act commonly 

10 known as the ‘‘Pregnancy Discrimination Act’’ to 

11 title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

12 SEC. 102. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE VII OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS 

13 ACT OF 1964. 

14 Section 701(k) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

15 U.S.C. 2000e(k)) is amended— 

16 (1) by inserting ‘‘(including lactation)’’ after 

17 ‘‘childbirth’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘For 

19 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘lactation’ 

20 means a condition that may result in the feeding of 

21 a child directly from the breast or the expressing of 

22 milk from the breast.’’. 


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1 TITLE II—REASONABLE BREAK 

2 TIME 

3 SEC. 201. REASONABLE BREAK TIME FOR NURSING MOTH4 ERS. 

5 Section 13 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

6 (29 U.S.C. 213) is amended in subsection (a), by inserting 

7 ‘‘(except section 7(r) in the case of paragraph (1) of this 

8 subsection)’’ after ‘‘and 7’’. 

Æ 


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