III 113th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 139 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 13, 2013 Mr. Harkin (for himself, Ms. Mikulski , Mrs. Murray , Mr. Sanders , Mr. Casey , Mr. Franken , Mr. Whitehouse , Mr. Murphy , Ms. Warren , Mr. Baucus , Mr. Levin , Mrs. Boxer , Mr. Durbin , Mr. Reed , Mr. Schumer , Mr. Lautenberg , Mr. Menendez , Mr. Cardin , Mr. Brown , Mr. Tester , Mrs. Shaheen , Mrs. Gillibrand , Mr. Coons , Mr. Blumenthal , and Ms. Heitkamp ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions RESOLUTION Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.

Whereas February 5, 2013, marks the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611 et seq.), which was signed by President Bill Clinton; Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act is a landmark law, and the first significant law to address the need of families to balance work with family and health responsibilities; Whereas prior to the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act, employees often did not have access to leave from work, or feared losing their jobs if they took leave, when the employee or an immediate family member faced a serious health condition, or when recovering from giving birth or bonding with a new child; Whereas prior to the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act, women often faced employment discrimination based on caregiving responsibilities and men often faced discrimination in accessing family leave; Whereas the responsibility to care for seriously ill family members and to bond with a newborn or newly adopted child is recognized, respected, and expected throughout the United States; Whereas Congress worked in a bipartisan manner to craft the Family and Medical Leave Act; Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act was the culmination of years of hard work and is a lasting legacy for Senators Chris Dodd and Kit Bond and Representatives Pat Schroeder and Marge Roukema, among many others; Whereas the purposes of the Family and Medical Leave Act are— (1) to balance the demands of the workplace with the needs of families; (2) to promote the stability and economic security of families; (3) to promote national interests in preserving family integrity; (4) to entitle employees to take reasonable leave for medical reasons, the birth or adoption of a child, and the care of a child, spouse, or parent with a serious health condition; (5) to accomplish the purposes described in paragraphs (1) through (4) in a manner that accommodates the legitimate interests of employers and minimizes the potential for employment discrimination on the basis of sex; and (6) to promote the goal of equal employment opportunity for women and men; Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act allows an employee to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to bond with a newborn or newly adopted child, to care for a child, spouse, or parent with a serious health condition, and to tend to a serious health condition of the employee; Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act benefits newborn or newly adopted children by creating strong family bonds, allowing families time to make arrangements for future caregiving, and promoting the establishment of healthy practices such as breastfeeding; Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act provides job security and peace of mind for individuals and families struggling with a difficult diagnosis or other serious health condition; Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act allows individuals to provide care for family members directly, strengthening families and benefitting society by reducing costs to taxpayer-funded programs; Whereas Congress recognized the unique family needs of military families and acted with bipartisan support in enacting the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 ( Public Law 110–181 ; 122 Stat. 3) and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (Public Law 111–84; 123 Stat. 2190) to expand the protections of the Family and Medical Leave Act to meet the needs of military families; Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act allows leave to deal with qualifying exigencies arising from the deployment of a family member to covered active duty in the United States Armed Forces; Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 26 weeks of leave to care for a member of the Armed Forces or recent veteran who was seriously injured or became seriously ill because of active duty in the United States Armed Forces; Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act helps the United States to fulfill the responsibility to support military families and care for wounded warriors; and Whereas the Family and Medical Leave Act has been invoked more than 100,000,000 times, allowing millions of families to attend to both work and family responsibilities: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate— (1) recognizes and honors the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 ( 29 U.S.C. 2611 et seq. ); (2) salutes all of the individuals who contributed to the enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Act; (3) encourages all individuals in the United States to celebrate the advance of workplace protections and opportunities made possible by the enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Act; and (4) pledges to continue to work on a bipartisan basis to ensure that all individuals in the United States are able to balance work and family responsibilities.