Madame Chairwoman, Ranking Member Boozman, and distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today in support of the Military Family Leave Act of 2009.

As someone who has the privilege of representing thousands of military personnel and their families, I have seen first hand the dedication and degree of professionalism that our men and women in uniform put into their mission. Providing military personnel with the benefits, treatment, and respect they deserve in exchange for their service to our nation has, and should continue to be, a priority for Congress. I also recognize the unique and challenging nature of military life and the impacts it has on our military’s families.  

As Members may be aware, section 585 of the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act (PL 110-181) amended the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to permit the children, parents, or next of kin of military personnel to take up to 26 work-weeks of leave to care for a covered servicemember recovering from a serious injury or illness incurred while serving on active duty. In addition, the amendment permits an employee to take up to 12 work-weeks of FMLA leave for certain qualifying exigencies arising out of a covered military member's active duty status, or notification of an impending call or order to active duty status, in support of a contingency operation. These new military family leave entitlements became effective on January 16, 2009.

While the amendment to FMLA has allowed numerous military families to take time away from work to be with their loved ones, current laws do not afford the same protection to individuals whose employment situation is not eligible for FMLA benefits.  This includes employees who have worked for an employer for less than 12 months, have worked less than 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months, or work for an employer who employs less than 50 employees in a 75 mile radius. As a significant number of military spouses work for small businesses, work part-time to balance work and family needs, or have less than one year with a company due to recent moves or reassignments, many are not eligible for protected leave under current law.

To address this issue and to ensure that military families have the flexibility to take time off of work to address issues that arise over the course of the deployment of a loved one, I introduced the Military Family Leave Act of 2009. This legislation would ensure that the spouse, children, or parents of a member of the military are able to take up to two-weeks of unpaid leave when the servicemember receives a notification or order to active duty in support of a contingency operation, or is deployed in connection with such an operation.

The Military Family Leave Act is modeled after a provision that was approved by the Washington State Legislature and took effect on June 12, 2008. The Oregon State Legislature also passed a similar law, which took effect on June 25, 2009. This effort was led Stacy Bannerman, a former constituent of mine and the spouse of a member of the Oregon National Guard. I’d like to take this opportunity to briefly recognize Ms. Bannerman for her work on behalf of military families and ask consent that her written statement in support of the Military Family Leave Act of 2009 be included in the record. 

With that, I again thank the committee for the opportunity today in support of the Military Family Leave Act of 2009 and look forward to your question.