I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 656 
To improve parental leave for members of the Armed Forces. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 23, 2025 
Mrs. BICE (for herself and Ms. HOULAHAN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To improve parental leave for members of the Armed Forces. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Military 
Parental Leave Evaluations Act’’. 
SEC. 2. IMPROVED PARENTAL LEAVE FOR MEMBERS OF 
THE ARMED FORCES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) In December 2022, Congress expanded the 
paid parental leave for members of the Armed 
Forces to 12 weeks during the 12 months after the 
‘‘birth or adoption of a child of the member and in 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:10 Feb 19, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H656.IH
H656
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
order to care for such child’’ or the ‘‘placement of 
a minor child with the member for adoption or long- 
term foster care’’ (10 U.S.C. 701(h)(1)(A)). 
(2) The expansion of parental leave raises con-
cerns that members who take such leave may receive 
lower evaluations compared to those who do not. 
(3) There is currently no provision to exempt 
members from evaluations due to parental leave, po-
tentially deterring eligible members from taking this 
leave. 
(4) Each Secretary of a military department 
has been given authority to implement the leave poli-
cies but have not provided explicit guidance on how 
to characterize such leave for the purposes of evalua-
tions. 
(5) All Armed Forces have non-rated codes or 
not observed evaluations to exempt members from 
evaluations during periods where their performance 
is not observed, but these do not align across the 
Armed Forces and do not specifically apply to paren-
tal leave. 
(6) Members who are parents face unique hard-
ships, and the 12 weeks of paid family leave for both 
mothers and fathers, for birth and adoption, is de-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:10 Feb 19, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H656.IH
H656
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
signed to balance the care needs of their children 
with the demands of their unit. 
(7) Excessive paperwork required to extend the 
use of the 12 weeks of military family leave beyond 
one year additionally burdens members and de-
creases flexibility. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Defense shall— 
(1) prescribe regulations— 
(A) that exempt a member of the Armed 
Forces who is taking parental leave, under sub-
paragraph (A) of paragraph (1) of section 
701(h) of title 10, United States Code, that ex-
ceeds 31 consecutive days, from a performance 
evaluation; and 
(B) under subparagraph (B) of such para-
graph, to authorize a member to take leave 
under such section during the two-year period 
beginning on the birth, adoption, or placement 
described in such paragraph without having to 
request a waiver from the Secretary concerned; 
and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:10 Feb 19, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H656.IH
H656
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
(2) submit to the Committees on Armed Forces 
of the Senate and House of Representatives a report 
regarding the implementation of this section. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:10 Feb 19, 2025
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H656.IH
H656
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB