II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1543 

To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and title 5, United 

States Code, to provide leave for family members of members of regular 

components of the Armed Forces, and leave to care for covered veterans, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 30, 2009 

Mr. DODD (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. MURRAY, and Mr. LIEBERMAN) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and 

title 5, United States Code, to provide leave for family 

members of members of regular components of the 

Armed Forces, and leave to care for covered veterans, 

and for other purposes. 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Military 

5 Families Act of 2009’’. 


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1 TITLE I—GENERAL 

2 REQUIREMENTS FOR LEAVE 

3 SEC. 101. DEFINITION OF COVERED ACTIVE DUTY. 

4 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 101 of the Family and 

5 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611) is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) by striking paragraph (14) and inserting 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(14) COVERED ACTIVE DUTY.—The term ‘cov10 ered active duty’ means— 

11 ‘‘(A) in the case of a member of a regular 

12 component of the Armed Forces, duty during 

13 the deployment of the member with the Armed 

14 Forces to a foreign country; and 

15 ‘‘(B) in the case of a member of a reserve 

16 component of the Armed Forces, duty during 

17 the deployment of the member with the Armed 

18 Forces to a foreign country under a call or 

19 order to active duty under a provision of law re20 ferred to in section 101(a)(13)(B) of title 10, 

21 United States Code.’’; and 

22 (2) by striking paragraph (15) and redesig23 nating paragraphs (16) through (19) as paragraphs 

24 (15) through (18), respectively. 


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1 (b) LEAVE.—Section 102 of the Family and Medical 

2 Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612) is amended— 

3 (1) in subsection (a)(1)(E)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘active duty’’ each place it 

5 appears and inserting ‘‘covered active duty’’; 

6 and 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘in support of a contin8 gency operation’’; and 

9 (2) in subsection (e)(3)— 

10 (A) in the paragraph heading, by striking 

11 ‘‘ACTIVE DUTY’’ and inserting ‘‘COVERED AC12 TIVE DUTY’’; 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘active duty’’ each place it 

14 appears and inserting ‘‘covered active duty’’; 

15 and 

16 (C) by striking ‘‘in support of a contin17 gency operation’’. 

18 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 103(f) of 

19 the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 

20 2613(f)) is amended, in the subsection heading, by strik21 ing ‘‘ACTIVE DUTY’’ each place it appears and inserting 

22 ‘‘COVERED ACTIVE DUTY’’. 

23 SEC. 102. DEFINITION OF COVERED SERVICEMEMBER. 

24 Paragraph (15) of section 101 of the Family and 

25 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611) (as redesigVerDate Nov 24 2008 08:24 Jul 31, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1543.IS S1543

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1 nated by section 101 of this Act) is amended to read as 

2 follows: 

3 ‘‘(15) COVERED SERVICEMEMBER.—The term 

4 ‘covered servicemember’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) a member of the Armed Forces (in6 cluding a member of the National Guard or Re7 serves) who is undergoing medical treatment, 

8 recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise in out9 patient status, or is otherwise on the temporary 

10 disability retired list, for a serious injury or ill11 ness; or 

12 ‘‘(B) a veteran who is undergoing medical 

13 treatment, recuperation, or therapy, for a seri14 ous injury or illness and who was a member of 

15 the Armed Forces (including a member of the 

16 National Guard or Reserves) at any time dur17 ing the period of 5 years preceding the date on 

18 which the veteran undergoes that medical treat19 ment, recuperation, or therapy.’’. 

20 SEC. 103. DEFINITIONS OF SERIOUS INJURY OR ILLNESS; 

21 VETERAN. 

22 Section 101 of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 

23 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611) is further amended by striking 

24 paragraph (18) (as redesignated by section 101 of this 

25 Act) and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(18) SERIOUS INJURY OR ILLNESS.—The term 

2 ‘serious injury or illness’— 

3 ‘‘(A) in the case of a member of the Armed 

4 Forces (including a member of the National 

5 Guard or Reserves), means an injury or illness 

6 that was incurred by the member in line of duty 

7 on active duty in the Armed Forces (or existed 

8 before the beginning of the member’s active 

9 duty and was aggravated by service in line of 

10 duty on active duty in the Armed Forces) and 

11 that may render the member medically unfit to 

12 perform the duties of the member’s office, 

13 grade, rank, or rating; and 

14 ‘‘(B) in the case of a veteran who was a 

15 member of the Armed Forces (including a mem16 ber of the National Guard or Reserves) at any 

17 time during a period described in paragraph 

18 (15)(B), means an injury or illness that was in19 curred by the member in line of duty on active 

20 duty in the Armed Forces (or existed before the 

21 beginning of the member’s active duty and was 

22 aggravated by service in line of duty on active 

23 duty in the Armed Forces) and that manifested 

24 itself before or after the member became a vet25 eran. 


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1 ‘‘(19) VETERAN.—The term ‘veteran’ has the 

2 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, 

3 United States Code.’’. 

4 SEC. 104. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT. 

5 Section 102(e)(2)(A) of the Family and Medical 

6 Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(e)(2)(A)) is amended 

7 by striking ‘‘or parent’’ and inserting ‘‘parent, or next of 

8 kin’’. 

9 SEC. 105. REGULATIONS. 

10 The Secretary of Labor, after consultation with the 

11 Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 

12 shall prescribe such regulations as are necessary to carry 

13 out the amendments made by this title. 

14 TITLE II—LEAVE FOR CIVIL 

15 SERVICE EMPLOYEES 

16 SEC. 201. EXIGENCY LEAVE FOR SERVICEMEMBERS ON 

17 COVERED ACTIVE DUTY. 

18 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 6381(7) of title 5, United 

19 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(7) the term ‘covered active duty’ means— 

21 ‘‘(A) in the case of a member of a regular 

22 component of the Armed Forces, duty during 

23 the deployment of the member with the Armed 

24 Forces to a foreign country; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of a member of a reserve 

2 component of the Armed Forces, duty during 

3 the deployment of the member with the Armed 

4 Forces to a foreign country under a call or 

5 order to active duty under a provision of law re6 ferred to in section 101(a)(13)(B) of title 10, 

7 United States Code;’’. 

8 (b) LEAVE.—Section 6382 of title 5, United States 

9 Code, is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by adding at the end 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(E) Because of any qualifying exigency arising 

13 out of the fact that the spouse, or a son, daughter, 

14 or parent of the employee is on covered active duty 

15 (or has been notified of an impending call or order 

16 to covered active duty) in the Armed Forces.’’; 

17 (2) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting after the 

18 second sentence the following: ‘‘Subject to subsection 

19 (e)(3) and section 6383(f), leave under subsection 

20 (a)(1)(E) may be taken intermittently or on a re21 duced leave schedule.’’; 

22 (3) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘or (D)’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘(D), or (E)’’; and 

24 (4) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) In any case in which the necessity for leave 

2 under subsection (a)(1)(E) is foreseeable, whether because 

3 the spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent, of the employee 

4 is on covered active duty, or because of notification of an 

5 impending call or order to covered active duty, the em6 ployee shall provide such notice to the employer as is rea7 sonable and practicable.’’. 

8 (c) CERTIFICATION.—Section 6383(f) of title 5, 

9 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘section 

10 6382(a)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)(E) or (3) of 

11 section 6382(a)’’. 

12 SEC. 202. DEFINITION OF COVERED SERVICEMEMBER. 

13 Paragraph (8) of section 6381 of title 5, United 

14 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(8) the term ‘covered servicemember’ means— 

16 ‘‘(A) a member of the Armed Forces (in17 cluding a member of the National Guard or Re18 serves) who is undergoing medical treatment, 

19 recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise in out20 patient status, or is otherwise on the temporary 

21 disability retired list, for a serious injury or ill22 ness; or 

23 ‘‘(B) a veteran who is undergoing medical 

24 treatment, recuperation, or therapy, for a seri25 ous injury or illness and who was a member of 


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1 the Armed Forces (including a member of the 

2 National Guard or Reserves) at any time dur3 ing the period of 5 years preceding the date on 

4 which the veteran undergoes that medical treat5 ment, recuperation, or therapy;’’. 

6 SEC. 203. DEFINITIONS OF SERIOUS INJURY OR ILLNESS; 

7 VETERAN. 

8 Section 6381 of title 5, United States Code, is further 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

11 end; and 

12 (2) by striking paragraph (11) and inserting 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(11) the term ‘serious injury or illness’— 

15 ‘‘(A) in the case of a member of the Armed 

16 Forces (including a member of the National 

17 Guard or Reserves), means an injury or illness 

18 that was incurred by the member in line of duty 

19 on active duty in the Armed Forces (or existed 

20 before the beginning of the member’s active 

21 duty and was aggravated by service in line of 

22 duty on active duty in the Armed Forces) and 

23 that may render the member medically unfit to 

24 perform the duties of the member’s office, 

25 grade, rank, or rating; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of a veteran who was a 

2 member of the Armed Forces (including a mem3 ber of the National Guard or Reserves) at any 

4 time during a period described in paragraph 

5 (8)(B), means an injury or illness that was in6 curred by the member in line of duty on active 

7 duty in the Armed Forces (or existed before the 

8 beginning of the member’s active duty and was 

9 aggravated by service in line of duty on active 

10 duty in the Armed Forces) and that manifested 

11 itself before or after the member became a vet12 eran; and 

13 ‘‘(12) the term ‘veteran’ has the meaning given 

14 the term in section 101 of title 38, United States 

15 Code.’’. 

16 SEC. 204. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT. 

17 Section 6382(e)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code, 

18 is amended by striking ‘‘or parent’’ and inserting ‘‘parent, 

19 or next of kin’’. 

20 SEC. 205. REGULATIONS. 

21 The Office of Personnel Management, after consulta22 tion with the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Vet23 erans Affairs, shall prescribe such regulations as are nec24 essary to carry out the amendments made by this title. 

Æ 


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