I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3122 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to expand parental leave for members 

of the Armed Forces, to reduce the service commitment required for 

participation in the career intermission program of a military department, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 11, 2021 

Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Mrs. BICE of Oklahoma, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

of New York, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. 

BROWNLEY, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. 

DELAURO, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. KATKO, Mr. MCGOVERN, 

Mr. MORELLE, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 

PORTER, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. ROSS, Mr. RYAN, Ms. SHERRILL, Ms. 

STRICKLAND, Ms. TITUS, Mr. TURNER, Mr. VELA, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. 

WILD, Ms. WILSON of Florida, and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to expand parental 

leave for members of the Armed Forces, to reduce the 

service commitment required for participation in the career intermission program of a military department, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Servicemember Paren3 tal Leave Equity Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF PARENTAL LEAVE FOR MEMBERS 

5 OF THE ARMED FORCES. 

6 (a) EXPANSION.—Section 701 of title 10, United 

7 States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (i)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

11 ‘‘twelve weeks’’ and inserting ‘‘18 weeks’’; 

12 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

13 ‘‘six weeks’’ and inserting ‘‘12 weeks’’; and 

14 (iii) by adding at the end the fol15 lowing new subparagraph: 

16 ‘‘(C) Under the regulations prescribed for purposes 

17 of this subsection, a member of the armed forces described 

18 in paragraph (2) who is the primary caregiver in the case 

19 of a long-term placement of a foster child is allowed up 

20 to 12 weeks of total leave to be used in connection with 

21 such placement, subject to limits as determined by the 

22 Secretary regarding— 

23 ‘‘(i) the total number of times that a member 

24 of the armed forces may use leave under this section 

25 with respect to the placement of a foster child; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the frequency with which a member of the 

2 armed forces may use leave under this section with 

3 respect to the placement of a foster child.’’; 

4 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘birth or 

5 adoption’’ and inserting ‘‘birth, adoption, or 

6 foster child placement’’; and 

7 (C) in paragraph (6)(A), by striking ‘‘birth 

8 or adoption’’ and inserting ‘‘birth, adoption, or 

9 foster child placement’’; 

10 (2) in subsection (j)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘21 

12 days’’ and inserting ‘‘12 weeks’’; 

13 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 

14 through (4) as paragraphs (3) through (5), re15 spectively; 

16 (C) by inserting, after paragraph (1), the 

17 following new paragraph (2): 

18 ‘‘(2) Under the regulations prescribed for purposes 

19 of this subsection, a member of the armed forces described 

20 in subsection (i)(2) who is the secondary caregiver in the 

21 case of a long-term placement of a foster child is allowed 

22 up to 12 weeks of total leave to be used in connection 

23 with such placement, subject to limits as determined by 

24 the Secretary regarding— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the total number of times that a member 

2 of the armed forces may use leave under this section 

3 with respect to the placement of a foster child; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the frequency with which a member of the 

5 armed forces may use leave under this section with 

6 respect to the placement of a foster child.’’; 

7 (D) in paragraph (4), as redesignated, by 

8 striking ‘‘only in one increment in connection 

9 with such birth or adoption’’ and inserting ‘‘in 

10 more than one increment in connection with 

11 such birth, adoption, or foster child placement 

12 in accordance with regulations prescribed by the 

13 Secretary of Defense’’; and 

14 (E) by adding at the end the following new 

15 paragraph (6): 

16 ‘‘(6) Under regulations prescribed for purposes of 

17 this subsection, the Secretary shall provide a member of 

18 the armed forces described in subsection (i)(2), who would 

19 have been a secondary caregiver but for a miscarriage, 

20 stillbirth, or infant death, with leave— 

21 ‘‘(A) in addition to leave under subsection (a); 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(B) not to exceed the amount of leave under 

24 paragraph (1).’’; 


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1 (3) in subsection (l), by inserting ‘‘ordered to 

2 temporary duty overnight travel, or ordered to par3 ticipate in physically demanding field training exer4 cises,’’ before ‘‘during’’; and 

5 (4) by adding at the end the following new sub6 section (m): 

7 ‘‘(m) A member of the armed forces who gives birth 

8 while on active duty may be required to meet body com9 position standards or pass a physical fitness test during 

10 the period of 12 months beginning on the date of such 

11 birth only with the approval of a health care provider em12 ployed at a military medical treatment facility and— 

13 ‘‘(1) at the election of such member; or 

14 ‘‘(2) in the interest of national security, as de15 termined by the Secretary of Defense.’’. 

16 (b) REGULATIONS; GUIDANCE AND POLICIES.— 

17 (1) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense 

18 shall prescribe regulations— 

19 (A) for leave under subsection (i)(1)(C) 

20 and subsection (j)(2) of section 701 of title 10, 

21 United States Code, as amended by subsection 

22 (a), not later than one year after the date of 

23 the enactment of this Act; 

24 (B) that establish leave, consistent across 

25 the Armed Forces, under subsection (j)(6) of 


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1 such section not later than one year after the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act; and 

3 (C) that establish convalescent leave, con4 sistent across the Armed Forces, under sub5 section (i)(1) of such section not later than 180 

6 days after the date of the enactment of this 

7 Act. 

8 (2) GUIDANCE AND POLICIES.—Each Secretary 

9 of a military department shall prescribe— 

10 (A) policies to establish the maximum 

11 amount of leave under subsection (i)(1) of sec12 tion 701 of title 10, United States Code, as 

13 amended by subsection (a), not later than one 

14 year after the date of the enactment of this Act; 

15 (B) policies to implement leave under sub16 section (i)(5) or (j)(4) of such section not later 

17 than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

18 of this Act; 

19 (C) policies to implement not less than 21 

20 days of leave pursuant to regulations prescribed 

21 under paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (j) 

22 of such section not later than one year after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act; and 

24 (D) policies to implement the maximum 

25 amount of leave pursuant to regulations preVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3122.IH H3122

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1 scribed under paragraphs (1) and (2) of sub2 section (j) of such section not later than five 

3 years after the date of the enactment of this 

4 Act. 

5 (c) REPORTING.—Not later than January 1, 2023, 

6 and annually thereafter, each Secretary of a military de7 partment shall submit to the Committees on Armed Serv8 ices of the Senate and House of Representatives a report 

9 containing the following: 

10 (1) The use, during the preceding fiscal year, of 

11 leave under subsections (i) and (j) of section 701 of 

12 title 10, United States Code, as amended by sub13 section (a), disaggregated by births, adoptions, and 

14 foster placements, including— 

15 (A) the number of members in each Armed 

16 Force under the jurisdiction of the Secretary 

17 who became primary caregivers; 

18 (B) the number of members in each Armed 

19 Force under the jurisdiction of the Secretary 

20 who became secondary caregivers; 

21 (C) the number of primary caregivers who 

22 used primary caregiver leave; 

23 (D) the number of secondary caregivers 

24 who used secondary caregiver leave; 


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1 (E) the number of primary caregivers who 

2 used the maximum amount of primary caregiver 

3 leave; 

4 (F) the number of secondary caregivers 

5 who used the maximum amount of secondary 

6 caregiver leave; 

7 (G) the number of primary caregivers who 

8 utilized primary caregiver leave in multiple in9 crements; 

10 (H) the number of secondary caregivers 

11 who utilized primary caregiver leave in multiple 

12 increments; 

13 (I) the median duration of primary care14 giver leave used by primary caregivers; 

15 (J) the median duration of secondary care16 giver leave used by secondary caregivers; and 

17 (K) other information the Secretary deter18 mines appropriate. 

19 (2) An analysis of the effect of leave described 

20 in paragraph (1) on— 

21 (A) readiness; and 

22 (B) retention. 

23 (3) Any actions taken by the Secretary to miti24 gate negative effects described in paragraph (2). 


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1 (4) The number of members deployed under 

2 each paragraph of subsection (l) of section 701 of 

3 title 10, United States Code, as amended by sub4 section (a). 

5 SEC. 3. REDUCTION IN SERVICE COMMITMENT REQUIRED 

6 FOR PARTICIPATION IN CAREER INTER7 MISSION PROGRAM OF A MILITARY DEPART8 MENT. 

9 Section 710(c)(3) of title 10, United States Code, is 

10 amended by striking ‘‘two months’’ and inserting ‘‘one 

11 month’’. 

Æ 


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