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[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.
                                 <all>
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