[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 94 (Tuesday, June 28, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4158-S4160]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Merkley, Mr.
Whitehouse, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Kerry, Mrs.
Gillibrand, Mr. Coons, Mr. Akaka, and Mr. Lautenberg):
S. 1283. A bill to amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to
permit leave to care for a same-sex spouse, domestic partner, parent-
in-law, adult child, sibling, grandchild, or grandparent who has a
serious health condition; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Family and
Medical Leave Inclusion Act. This bill, which I also introduced in the
111th Congress, would extend the important protections of the Family
and Medical Leave Act to same-sex couples in America.
I am pleased to introduce this bill with a coalition of Senators who
are committed to ensuring justice and equality for all Americans. I
would like to thank Senators Akaka, Blumenthal, Coons, Gillibrand,
Kerry, Lautenberg, Leahy, Merkley, Sanders, and Whitehouse for standing
with me in support of the Family and Medical Leave Inclusion Act.
In 1993, Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act to, among
other things, protect American workers facing either a personal health
crisis, or that of a close family member.
People in the workforce who suffer a serious illness or significant
injury should be able to take time to heal, recover, follow their
doctors' orders, and return to their jobs strong, healthy, and ready to
be productive again. Thanks to the FMLA, they can take that time
knowing that their jobs will be there when they recover.
As we all know well, most employees are not only concerned about
their own health and wellbeing. They are concerned about the health and
wellbeing of those that they love. The FMLA gave workers with a child,
parent, or spouse that was sick or injured, an opportunity to provide
the needed care and support, knowing that their jobs would be there
when they returned.
When it was passed, the FMLA was an important and historic expansion
of our nation's laws. Unfortunately, as families have evolved and
expanded, we've learned that the FMLA does not provide the same level
of protection to all American families. Under current law, it is
impossible for many employees to be with their partners during times of
medical need.
As I stated when I introduced this bill last year, Congress followed
the lead of many large and small businesses when it enacted the FMLA.
Almost 20 years ago, many of these businesses had already recognized
and addressed the need for employees to take time off to care for
themselves or a loved one that was battling a serious health condition.
These companies had put in place systems that gave their employees time
to heal themselves or their family members, and ensured that those
employees would return to work as soon as they could.
The FMLA took the model these companies provided and brought the
majority of the American workforce under the same protections.
We once again have an opportunity to learn from the best practices of
American businesses who have adjusted their personnel policies and
benefit packages to better meet the needs of American families, as we
find them today. These businesses have assessed the composition of
their workforces and realized that, in order to meet the evolving needs
of their employees and enhance productivity, they needed to go one step
further than the protections provided by the FMLA.
The Human Rights Campaign, leading civil rights organization that
strongly supports the Family and Medical Leave Inclusion Act, reports
that 502 major American corporations, 10 states, and the District of
Columbia now extend FMLA benefits to include leave on behalf of a same-
sex partner. Moreover, as of March of this year, 58 percent of Fortune
500 companies provided health benefits to same-sex partners, a 13 fold
increase since 1995.
When the FMLA was signed into law, it was narrowly tailored to cover
individuals caring for a very close family member. The law sought to
cover that inner circle of people, where the family member assuming the
caretaker role would be one of very few, if not the only person, who
could do so. That idea has not changed.
What has changed are the people who might be in that inner circle.
The nuclear American family has grown, sometimes by design, and
sometimes by necessity. More and more, that inner circle of close
family might include a grandparent or grandchild, siblings, or same-sex
domestic partners in loving and committed relationships.
As the law stands right now, too many of these people are excluded
from the protections of the FMLA.
In these tough economic times, when unemployment is high and those
with jobs are doing everything they can to keep them, we all know the
value of job security. Hardworking Americans should not have to make
the impossible choice between keeping their jobs and providing care and
support for loved ones in their time of need. Almost 20 years ago, the
FMLA ensured that millions of Americans did not have to make that
choice. Now, the time has come to ensure that the security afforded by
the FMLA is available to a broader range of American workers.
There are many who would understandably question what this kind of
change in the law would cost the business community. As I have stated
in the past, the FMLA is already a very good law; it is already in
place and it is working. It provides unpaid leave when the need arises,
and it only applies to businesses that have enough employees on hand to
handle the absence of a single worker without too great a burden.
Ninety percent of the leave time that has been taken under the FMLA
has been so that employees can care for themselves or for a child in
their care, and those situations are already covered under the law as
it stands. What the Family and Medical Leave Inclusion Act would do is
provide a little more flexibility, and recognize that there are a few
more people in that inner circle of family who we might call upon, or
who might call upon us.
We can all agree that family is the first and best safety net in
times of personal crisis. Families need to be given the realistic
ability to provide that assistance. What the Family and Medical Leave
Inclusion Act does is give those family members the ability to help
their loved ones in ways that only they can, without fear of losing
their jobs in the process.
The Family and Medical Leave Inclusion Act enhances the FMLA. The
Family and Medical Leave Inclusion Act, like the FMLA when it was
passed almost 20 years ago, is long overdue. Our bill contains
reasonable changes that reflect what many businesses have already done
and accurately capture the modem American family.
The Family Medical Leave Inclusion Act is supported by over 80
organizations from the business, civil rights, LGBT, and labor
communities, including: the National Association of Working Women;
AFSCME; American Pediatrics Association; ACLU; Families USA; Gay and
Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, GLAD; Human Rights Campaign; People
for the American Way;
[[Page S4159]]
SEIU; and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
The Family and Medical Leave Inclusion Act is the right thing to do,
and I hope we can join together and pass it on a bipartisan basis.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 1283
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Family and Medical Leave
Inclusion Act''.
SEC. 2. LEAVE TO CARE FOR A SAME-SEX SPOUSE, DOMESTIC
PARTNER, PARENT-IN-LAW, ADULT CHILD, SIBLING,
GRANDCHILD, OR GRANDPARENT.
(a) Definitions.--
(1) Inclusion of adult children and children of a domestic
partner.--Section 101(12) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 2611(12)) is
amended--
(A) by inserting ``a child of an individual's domestic
partner,'' after ``a legal ward,''; and
(B) by striking ``who is--'' and all that follows and
inserting ``and includes an adult child.''.
(2) Inclusion of grandchildren, grandparents, parents-in-
law, siblings, and domestic partners.--Section 101 of such
Act (29 U.S.C. 2611) is further amended by adding at the end
the following:
``(20) Domestic partner.--The term `domestic partner', used
with respect to an employee, means--
``(A) the person recognized as the domestic partner of the
employee under any domestic partner registry or civil union
law of the State or political subdivision of a State where
the employee resides, or the person who is lawfully married
to the employee under the law of the State where the employee
resides and who is the same sex as the employee; or
``(B) in the case of an unmarried employee who lives in a
State where a person cannot marry a person of the same sex
under the laws of the State, a single, unmarried adult person
of the same sex as the employee who is in a committed,
personal (as defined in regulations issued by the Secretary)
relationship with the employee, who is not a domestic partner
to any other person, and who is designated to the employer by
such employee as that employee's domestic partner.
``(21) Grandchild.--The term `grandchild', used with
respect to an employee, means any person who is a son or
daughter of a son or daughter of the employee.
``(22) Grandparent.--The term `grandparent', used with
respect to an employee, means a parent of a parent of the
employee.
``(23) Parent-in-law.--The term `parent-in-law', used with
respect to an employee, means a parent of the spouse or
domestic partner of the employee.
``(24) Sibling.--The term `sibling', used with respect to
an employee, means any person who is a son or daughter of the
employee's parent.
``(25) Son-in-law or daughter-in-law.--The term `son-in-law
or daughter-in-law', used with respect to an employee, means
any person who is a spouse or domestic partner of a son or
daughter of the employee.''.
(b) Leave Requirement.--Section 102 of the Family and
Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(1)--
(A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``spouse, or a son,
daughter, or parent, of the employee, if such spouse, son,
daughter, or parent'' and inserting ``spouse or domestic
partner, or a son, daughter, parent, parent-in-law,
grandparent, or sibling, of the employee if such spouse,
domestic partner, son, daughter, parent, parent-in-law,
grandparent, or sibling''; and
(B) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``spouse, or a son,
daughter, or parent'' and inserting ``spouse or domestic
partner, or a son, daughter, parent, parent-in-law,
grandchild, or sibling,'';
(2) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ``spouse, son,
daughter, parent,'' and inserting ``spouse or domestic
partner, son, daughter, parent, son-in-law or daughter-in-
law, grandparent, sibling,'';
(3) in subsection (e)--
(A) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ``spouse, parent,''
and inserting ``spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-
law, grandchild, grandparent, sibling,''; and
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ``spouse, or a son,
daughter, or parent,'' and inserting ``spouse or domestic
partner, or a son, daughter, parent, parent-in-law,
grandchild, or sibling,''; and
(4) in subsection (f)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``a husband and wife''
and inserting ``2 spouses or 2 domestic partners''; and
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``that husband and
wife'' and inserting ``those spouses or those domestic
partners''; and
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``the husband and
wife'' and inserting ``those spouses or those domestic
partners''.
(c) Certification.--Section 103 of the Family and Medical
Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2613) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``spouse, or parent''
and inserting ``spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-
law, grandchild, grandparent, or sibling''; and
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ``spouse, or parent
and an estimate of the amount of time that such employee is
needed to care for the son, daughter, spouse, or parent'' and
inserting ``spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law,
grandparent, or sibling and an estimate of the amount of time
that such employee is needed to care for such son, daughter,
spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent,
or sibling''; and
(B) in paragraph (7), by striking ``parent, or spouse'' and
inserting ``spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law,
grandparent, or sibling''.
(d) Employment and Benefits Protection.--Section 104(c)(3)
of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C.
2614(c)(3)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ``spouse, or
parent'' and inserting ``spouse, domestic partner, parent,
parent-in-law, grandparent, or sibling''; and
(2) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking ``spouse, or
parent'' and inserting ``spouse, domestic partner, parent,
parent-in-law, grandparent, or sibling''.
SEC. 3. FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.
(a) Definitions.--
(1) Inclusion of adult children and children of a domestic
partner.--Section 6381(6) of title 5, United States Code, is
amended--
(A) by inserting ``a child of an individual's domestic
partner,'' after ``a legal ward,''; and
(B) by striking ``who is--'' and all that follows and
inserting ``and includes an adult child.''.
(2) Inclusion of grandchildren, grandparents, parents-in-
law, siblings, and domestic partners.--Section 6381 of such
title is further amended--
(A) in paragraph (11)(B), by striking ``; and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(B) in paragraph (12), by striking the period and inserting
a semicolon; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(13) the term `domestic partner', used with respect to an
employee, means--
``(A) the person recognized as the domestic partner of the
employee under any domestic partner registry or civil union
law of the State or political subdivision of a State where
the employee resides, or the person who is lawfully married
to the employee under the law of the State where the employee
resides and who is the same sex as the employee; or
``(B) in the case of an unmarried employee who lives in a
State where a person cannot marry a person of the same sex
under the laws of the State, a single, unmarried adult person
of the same sex as the employee who is in a committed,
personal (as defined in regulations issued by the Office of
Personnel Management) relationship with the employee, who is
not a domestic partner to any other person, and who is
designated to the employer by such employee as that
employee's domestic partner;
``(14) the term `grandchild', used with respect to an
employee, means any person who is a son or daughter of a son
or daughter of the employee;
``(15) the term `grandparent', used with respect to an
employee, means a parent of a parent of the employee;
``(16) the term `parent-in-law', used with respect to an
employee, means a parent of the spouse or domestic partner of
the employee;
``(17) the term `sibling', used with respect to an
employee, means any person who is a son or daughter of the
employee's parent; and
``(18) the term `son-in-law or daughter-in-law', used with
respect to an employee, means any person who is a spouse or
domestic partner of a son or daughter of the employee.''.
(b) Leave Requirement.--Section 6382 of title 5, United
States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(1)--
(A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``spouse, or a son,
daughter, or parent, of the employee, if such spouse, son,
daughter, or parent'' and inserting ``spouse or domestic
partner, or a son, daughter, parent, parent-in-law,
grandparent, or sibling, of the employee, if such spouse,
domestic partner, son, daughter, parent, parent-in-law,
grandparent, or sibling''; and
(B) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``spouse, or a son,
daughter, or parent'' and inserting ``spouse or domestic
partner, or a son, daughter, parent, parent-in-law,
grandchild, or sibling,'';
(2) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ``spouse, son,
daughter, parent,'' and inserting ``spouse or domestic
partner, son, daughter, parent, son-in-law or daughter-in-
law, grandparent, sibling,''; and
(3) in subsection (e)--
(A) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ``spouse, parent'' and
inserting ``spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law,
grandchild, grandparent, sibling''; and
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ``spouse, or a son,
daughter, or parent,'' and inserting ``spouse or domestic
partner, or a son, daughter, parent, parent-in-law,
grandchild, or sibling,''.
(c) Certification.--Section 6383 of title 5, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``spouse, or parent''
and inserting ``spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-
law, grandchild, grandparent, or sibling''; and
(2) in subsection (b)(4)(A), by striking ``spouse, or
parent, and an estimate of the
[[Page S4160]]
amount of time that such employee is needed to care for such
son, daughter, spouse, or parent'' and inserting ``spouse,
domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, or
sibling and an estimate of the amount of time that such
employee is needed to care for such son, daughter, spouse,
domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, or
sibling''.
______