I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3403 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2009 

Ms. WOOLSEY (for herself, Mr. ALTMIRE, and Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight 

and Government Reform and House Administration, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 102. DEFINITION OF COVERED SERVICEMEMBER. 

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

3 Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611) (as redesig4 nated by section 101) is amended to read as follows: 

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

6 ‘covered servicemember’ means— 

7 ‘‘(A) a member of the Armed Forces (in8 cluding a member of the National Guard or Re9 serves) who is undergoing medical treatment, 

10 recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise in out11 patient status, or is otherwise on the temporary 

12 disability retired list, for a serious injury or ill13 ness; or 

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

15 treatment, recuperation, or therapy, for a seri16 ous injury or illness and who was a member of 

17 the Armed Forces (including a member of the 

18 National Guard or Reserves) at any time dur19 ing the period of 5 years preceding the date on 

20 which the veteran undergoes that medical treat21 ment, recuperation, or therapy.’’. 

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

23 VETERAN. 

24 Section 101 of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 

25 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611) is further amended by striking 


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1 paragraph (18) (as redesignated by section 101) and in2 serting the following: 

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

4 ‘serious injury or illness’— 

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

6 Forces (including a member of the National 

7 Guard or Reserves), means an injury or illness 

8 that was incurred by the member in line of duty 

9 on active duty in the Armed Forces (or existed 

10 before the beginning of the member’s active 

11 duty and was aggravated by service in line of 

12 duty on active duty in the Armed Forces) and 

13 that may render the member medically unfit to 

14 perform the duties of the member’s office, 

15 grade, rank, or rating; and 

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

17 member of the Armed Forces (including a mem18 ber of the National Guard or Reserves) at any 

19 time during a period described in paragraph 

20 (15)(B), means an injury or illness that was in21 curred by the member in line of duty on active 

22 duty in the Armed Forces (or existed before the 

23 beginning of the member’s active duty and was 

24 aggravated by service in line of duty on active 

25 duty in the Armed Forces) and that manifested 


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1 itself before or after the member became a vet2 eran. 

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

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

5 United States Code.’’. 

6 SEC. 104. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT. 

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

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

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

10 kin’’. 

11 SEC. 105. REGULATIONS. 

12 The Secretary of Labor, after consultation with the 

13 Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 

14 shall prescribe such regulations as are necessary to carry 

15 out the amendments made by this title. 

16 TITLE II—LEAVE FOR CIVIL 

17 SERVICE EMPLOYEES 

18 SEC. 201. EXIGENCY LEAVE FOR SERVICEMEMBERS ON 

19 COVERED ACTIVE DUTY. 

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

21 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

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

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

24 component of the Armed Forces, duty during 


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1 the deployment of the member with the Armed 

2 Forces to a foreign country; and 

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

4 component of the Armed Forces, duty during 

5 the deployment of the member with the Armed 

6 Forces to a foreign country under a call or 

7 order to active duty under a provision of law re8 ferred to in section 101(a)(13)(B) of title 10, 

9 United States Code;’’. 

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

11 Code, is amended— 

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

13 the following: 

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

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

16 or parent of the employee is on covered active duty 

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

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

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

20 second sentence the following: ‘‘Subject to subsection 

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

22 (a)(1)(E) may be taken intermittently or on a re23 duced leave schedule.’’; 

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

25 inserting ‘‘(D), or (E)’’; and 


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

2 following: 

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

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

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

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

7 impending call or order to covered active duty, the em8 ployee shall provide such notice to the employer as is rea9 sonable and practicable.’’. 

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

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

12 6382(a)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)(E) or (3) of 

13 section 6382(a)’’. 

14 SEC. 202. DEFINITION OF COVERED SERVICEMEMBER. 

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

16 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

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

18 ‘‘(A) a member of the Armed Forces (in19 cluding a member of the National Guard or Re20 serves) who is undergoing medical treatment, 

21 recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise in out22 patient status, or is otherwise on the temporary 

23 disability retired list, for a serious injury or ill24 ness; or 


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

2 treatment, recuperation, or therapy, for a seri3 ous injury or illness and who was a member of 

4 the Armed Forces (including a member of the 

5 National Guard or Reserves) at any time dur6 ing the period of 5 years preceding the date on 

7 which the veteran undergoes that medical treat8 ment, recuperation, or therapy;’’. 

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

10 VETERAN. 

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

12 amended— 

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

14 end; and 

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

16 the following: 

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

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

19 Forces (including a member of the National 

20 Guard or Reserves), means an injury or illness 

21 that was incurred by the member in line of duty 

22 on active duty in the Armed Forces (or existed 

23 before the beginning of the member’s active 

24 duty and was aggravated by service in line of 

25 duty on active duty in the Armed Forces) and 


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1 that may render the member medically unfit to 

2 perform the duties of the member’s office, 

3 grade, rank, or rating; and 

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

5 member of the Armed Forces (including a mem6 ber of the National Guard or Reserves) at any 

7 time during a period described in paragraph 

8 (8)(B), means an injury or illness that was in9 curred by the member in line of duty on active 

10 duty in the Armed Forces (or existed before the 

11 beginning of the member’s active duty and was 

12 aggravated by service in line of duty on active 

13 duty in the Armed Forces) and that manifested 

14 itself before or after the member became a vet15 eran; and 

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

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

18 Code.’’. 

19 SEC. 204. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT. 

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

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

22 or next of kin’’. 

23 SEC. 205. REGULATIONS. 

24 The Office of Personnel Management, after consulta25 tion with the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of VetVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:58 Aug 01, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3403.IH H3403

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1 erans Affairs, shall prescribe such regulations as are nec2 essary to carry out the amendments made by this title. 

Æ 


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