Letter to the Hon General (Ret.) Janet Wolfenbarger and Command Sergeant Major (Ret.) Jones - Sens. Moran, Udall Urge Defense Advisory Committee to Support MOMs Leave Act
Letter
We write to express our strong support for providing military mothers in the National Guard and Reserves equal treatment for maternity leave as their Active Component counterparts. Earlier this year, we introduced the MOMS Leave Act (S. 1615) to achieve that end and believe this is a straightforward policy that could be implemented within the Department of Defense through directive or guidance. As the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS), we believe your Committee has the opportunity to advise the Secretary with a favorable recommendation for policy changes that better reflect the needs of the Reserve force and bring parity to the Active Component.
The policy changes contained in the MOMS Leave Act offers Reserve Component mothers six duty days of paid time off for maternity leave, and the ability to accumulate the 12 points they would otherwise lose that count toward their service obligation, retirement, and promotions. The Congressional Budget Office reported this legislation and these policy changes as budget neutral. Given your committee members' vast and diversified military experience which represents every service component, we expect that you understand the importance of codifying maternity leave as a standing policy rather than a case-by-case leadership decision left to the discretion of the directorate, command or an individual.
We urge you to review the MOMS Leave Act maternity leave proposal favorably during your Committee's upcoming quarterly business meeting September 17-18, 2019, and to recommend to the Secretary of Defense that these maternity leave policy changes for the National Guard and Reserves be implemented. As in the Active Component, women choosing to serve our great Nation in the Reserve Component should be guaranteed the time they need to recover from childbirth and spend important time with their newborn without losing a paycheck or delaying their career.
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