I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4796 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to specify a minimum number of 

days of parental leave available for a member of the Armed Forces 

in connection with the birth of a child of the member or in connection 

with the adoption or foster care of a child by the member. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2016 

Ms. DUCKWORTH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to specify a minimum 

number of days of parental leave available for a member 

of the Armed Forces in connection with the birth of 

a child of the member or in connection with the adoption 

or foster care of a child by the member. 

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 ‘‘Military Parental 

5 Leave Modernization Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PARENTAL LEAVE FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 

2 FORCES. 

3 Section 701 of title 10, United States Code, is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) by striking subsections (i) and (j); 

6 (2) by redesignating subsection (k) as sub7 section (j); and 

8 (3) by inserting after subsection (h) the fol9 lowing new subsection (i): 

10 ‘‘(i) PARENTAL LEAVE.—(1) A member of the armed 

11 forces, regardless of gender or marital status, shall be au12 thorized to take at least 84 days of parental leave to be 

13 used in connection with— 

14 ‘‘(A) the birth of a child of the member; 

15 ‘‘(B) a qualifying adoption of a child by the 

16 member; or 

17 ‘‘(C) the placement of a child in foster care 

18 with the member. 

19 ‘‘(2) In the case of a dual military family, both mem20 bers of the armed forces shall be authorized to take paren21 tal leave under this subsection. The Secretary concerned 

22 shall permit the transfer of such leave between the two 

23 members to accommodate individual family circumstances. 

24 ‘‘(3) For the purpose of parental leave under this 

25 subsection, an adoption of a child by a member of the 

26 armed forces is a qualifying child adoption if the member 


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1 is eligible for reimbursement of qualified adoption ex2 penses for such adoption under section 1052 of this title. 

3 ‘‘(4) Parental leave under paragraph (1) is in addi4 tion to other leave provided under other provisions of this 

5 section or under other legal authority. Nothing in this sub6 section prevents the Secretary concerned from authorizing 

7 convalescent leave for a female member of the armed 

8 forces as necessary prior or subsequent to the delivery of 

9 her child. Convalescent or other leave taken before child10 birth by a pregnant member shall not reduce the number 

11 of days of parental leave available to the member under 

12 this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(5) The Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of 

14 Homeland Security in the case of the Coast Guard when 

15 it is not operating as a service in the Navy, shall prescribe 

16 regulations to implement this subsection, which shall be 

17 uniform for the armed forces.’’. 

Æ 


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