Rep. Cartwright Marks 20th Anniversary of Landmark Family and Medical Leave Act

Statement

Today, Rep. Matt Cartwright (PA-17) marked the 20th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act. On February 5, 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the landmark Family and Medical Leave Act into law -- only the third bill he signed upon becoming President, two weeks after his inauguration. President George H. W. Bush had earlier vetoed the Family and Medical Leave Act twice.

"Since the enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Act 20 years ago, it has been used more than 100 million times by workers to take unpaid leave to care for themselves, their new children and their family members without having to worry that their jobs will be gone when they return," Rep. Cartwright pointed out.

Over the last 20 years, due to the FMLA, mothers and fathers have taken time to care for new babies. Expecting mothers have taken time to care for themselves and seek medical help during complicated pregnancies. Adult children have taken time to care for ailing parents. Indeed, nearly everyone has, or knows someone who has, benefited from the FMLA. The protections of the FMLA were most recently expanded by a Democratic-led Congress in 2010 to cover family members dealing with a military deployment or service-related injury.

"The Families and Medical Leave Act has helped millions of families manage their responsibilities at work and at home," Rep. Cartwright concluded. "As we move forward, we need to look for ways to improve the Family and Medical Leave Act and ways to further help America's workers better balance their responsibilities on the job with their responsibilities to their families at home."

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