Congressional Record Statement of Senator Russell D. Feingold on the Military Family Leave Act April 14, 2005 Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I introduce legislation on behalf of myself and Senators CORZINE, DAYTON, DURBIN, LAUTENBERG, MIKULSKI, and MURRAY, that would bring a small measure of relief to the families of our brave military personnel who are being deployed for the ongoing fight against terrorism, the war in Iraq, and other missions in this country and around the world. It is legislation that the Senate adopted unanimously when I offered it as an amendment to the fiscal year 2004 Iraq supplemental spending bill and I think it would be very fitting for my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure again during this, the National Month of the Military Child. The men and women of our Armed Forces undertake enormous sacrifices in their service to our country. They spend time away from home and from their families in different parts of the country and different parts of the world and are placed into harm's way in order to protect the American people and our way of life. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude for their dedicated service. The ongoing deployments for the fight against terrorism and for the campaign in Iraq are turning upside down the lives of thousands of active duty, National Guard, and Reserve personnel and their families as they seek to do their duty to their country and honor their commitments to their families, and, in the case of the reserve components, to their employers as well. Today, there are more than 180,000 National Guard and Reserve personnel on active duty. Some of my constituents are facing the latest in a series of activations and deployments for family members who serve our country in the military. Others are seeing their loved ones off on their first deployment. All of these families share in the worry and concern about what awaits their relatives and hope, as we do, for their swift and safe return. Many of those deployed in Iraq have had their tours extended beyond the time they had expected to stay. This extension has played havoc with the lives of those deployed and their families. Worried mothers, fathers, spouses, and children expecting their loved ones home after more than a year of service have been forced to wait another three or four months before their loved ones' much-anticipated homecoming. The emotional toll is huge. So is the impact on a family's daily functioning as bills still need to be paid, children need to get to school events, and sick family members must still be cared for. Our men and women in uniform face these challenges without complaint. But we should do more to help them and their families with the many things that preparing to be deployed requires. During the first round of mobilizations for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, military personnel and their families were given only a couple of days' notice that their units would be deployed. As a result, these dedicated men and women had only a very limited amount of time to get their lives in order. For members of the National Guard and Reserve, this included informing their employers of the deployment. I want to commend the many employers around the country for their understanding and support when their employees were called to active duty. In preparation for a deployment, military families often have to scramble to arrange for child care, to pay bills, to contact their landlords or mortgage companies, and to take care of other things that we deal with on a daily basis. The legislation I introduce today would allow eligible employees whose spouses, parents, sons, or daughters are military personnel who are serving on or called to active duty in support of a contingency operation to use their Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) benefits for issues directly relating to or resulting from that deployment. These instances could include preparation for deployment or additional responsibilities that family members take on as a result of a loved one's deployment, such as child care. But don't just take my word for it. Here is what the National Military Family Association has to say in a letter of support: (The National Military Family Association) has heard from many families about the difficulty of balancing family obligations with job requirements when a close family member is deployed. Suddenly, they are single parents or, in the case of grandparents, assuming the new responsibility of caring for grandchildren. The days leading up to a deployment can be filled with pre-deployment briefings and putting legal affairs in order. In that same letter, the National Military Family Association states that, "Military families, especially those of deployed service members, are called upon to make extraordinary sacrifices. (The Military Families Leave Act) offers families some breathing room as they adjust to this time of separation." On July 21, 2004, then-Governor Joseph Kernan of Indiana testified before a joint hearing of the Senate Health, Labor, Education, and Pensions and Armed Services committees that Congress should revise FMLA to include activated National Guard families, as recommended by the National Governors' Association. The legislation I introduce today would give many military families some of the assistance Governor Kernan spoke of. Let me make sure there is no confusion about what this legislation does and does not do. This legislation does not expand eligibility for FMLA to employees not already covered by FMLA. It does not expand FMLA eligibility to active duty military personnel. It simply allows those already covered by FMLA to use those benefits in one additional set of circumstances—to deal with issues directly related to or resulting from the deployment of a family member. I was proud to cosponsor and vote for the legislation that created the landmark Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) during the early days of my service to the people of Wisconsin as a member of this body. This important legislation allows eligible workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year for the birth or adoption of child, the placement of a foster child, to care for a newborn or newly adopted child or newly placed foster child, or to care for their own serious health condition or that of a spouse, a parent, or a child. Some employers offer a portion of this time as paid leave in addition to other accrued leave, while others allow workers to use accrued vacation or sick leave for this purpose prior to going on unpaid leave. Since its enactment in 1993, the FMLA has helped more than 35 million American workers to balance responsibilities to their families and their jobs. According to the Congressional Research Service, between 2.2 million and 6.1 million people took advantage of these benefits in 1999-2000. Our military families sacrifice a great deal. Active duty families of ten move every couple of years due to transfers and new assignments. The twelve years since FMLA' s enactment has also been a time where we as a country have relied more heavily on National Guard and Reserve personnel for more and more deployments of longer and longer duration. The growing burden on these service members' families must be addressed, and this legislation is one way to do so. This legislation has the support of a number of organizations, including the Wisconsin National Guard, the Military Officers Association of America, the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States, the Reserve Enlisted Association, the Reserve Officers Association, the National Military Family Association, the National Council on Family Relations, and the National Partnership for Women and Families. The Military Coalition, an umbrella organization of 31 prominent military organizations, specified this legislation as one of five meriting special consideration during the fiscal year 2004 Iraq supplemental debate. We owe it to our military personnel and their families to do all we can to support them in this difficult time. I hope that this legislation will bring a small measure of relief to our military families and I urge my colleagues to support it. I ask unanimous consent that the text of my bill be printed in the RECORD.

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