Conference Report On H.R. 2647, National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2010

Floor Speech

Conference Report On H.R. 2647, National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2010

* Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I am proud that H.R. 2647 contains provisions of H.R. 3403, the Supporting Military Families Act, a bill that I introduced in the House earlier this year.

* In the 110th Congress, we passed and the President signed into law the first-ever changes to the Family Medical Leave Act, FMLA, permitting ``next of kin'' of seriously injured and ill servicemembers to take up to twenty-six weeks of unpaid leave to care for these injured and ill servicemembers. In addition, the legislation provides up to twelve weeks of leave to workers when their family servicemembers are about to be deployed overseas to attend to certain ``exigencies'' relating to deployment, such as arranging for alternate child care or going to a lawyer for a will.

* The legislation passed in the 110th Congress was a good start, however, it has some gaps in coverage, which H.R. 2647 addresses. Under these new provisions, a next of kin can take up to twenty-six weeks of unpaid leave to care for a seriously injured or ill veteran, so long as that veteran incurred the injury or illness while on active duty and the injury or illness manifests itself within five years of the veteran's discharge from active duty. In addition, the twelve weeks of leave for ``exigencies'' relating to deployment includes not only leave for families of National Guard or Reservists in support of a contingency operation, but also leave for: (1) families of regular active duty servicemembers; and (2) families of those who have been deployed overseas.

* The FMLA is intended to help individuals balance their family and work obligations. So far, working people have used FMLA more than 100 million times to care for themselves and their family members. When the Act was first passed in 1993, it was a giant step and, while we need to pass legislation to provide paid leave, FMLA is still of great importance to working families.

* Since a majority of military spouses work, they too must balance work and family. They work to put food on the table and support their families. But they face additional challenges because their lives are disrupted by multiple deployments, involving not only active servicemembers but those in the National Guard and Reserves as well.

* Over 35,000 servicemembers have been injured--many seriously--in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. These injured warriors need substantial support and care from their families, often for long periods of time, and some permanently.

* In addition, veterans of both conflicts are developing serious illnesses and injuries after they are discharged from active service. Brain injuries such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress syndrome are disabling conditions but often do not materialize until well after servicemembers have been discharged from active duty. A recent study by the Department of Defense estimates that 11 percent of Iraq veterans and 20 percent of Afghanistan veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome as a result of their service.

* No matter where we come down on the merits of these conflicts, we must support families whose loved ones put their lives and their futures on the line for our nation. The provisions of H.R. 2647 will certainly help.

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