DeLauro Urges Senate to Oppose Alito Nomination

Thursday, December 8, 2005

DeLauro Urges Senate to Oppose Alito Nomination

WASHINGTON, D.C. - At a press conference on Capitol Hill today, Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today joined other female lawmakers and the National Women's Law Center to urge the U.S. Senate to oppose the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. In announcing her opposition to this Supreme Court nominee, DeLauro cited rulings by Alito that weaken the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA.)

In 1988, DeLauro's home state of Connecticut became the first state in the nation to enact legislation that provided unpaid leave from work for workers in the event of a serious illness in the family or the birth or adoption of a child. Six years later, in 1993, the Federal government followed suit.

"Today, we come together for a simple but important reason - because we believe the confirmation of Judge Alito to a lifetime appointment on our nation's highest court poses a threat to American families," said DeLauro. "The FMLA is one of the most significant advances for families in recent decades. But Judge Alito has said that the FMLA was unconstitutional, reasoning that there is no evidence that women are disadvantaged in the workplace when they are not allowed to take family leave. This interpretation defies all common sense."

More than 50 million Americans have been able to take leave of work since FMLA's passage.

The law has been particularly helpful to women, who make up the majority of workers in low-wage service and retail professions where they are least likely to have benefits including paid sick days. But businesses have had benefited from the law as well. According to the Labor Department's Family and Medical Leave Act surveys, 9 out of 10 covered employers say the FMLA has either a positive or neutral effect on their productivity and growth - they understand that giving employees a modicum of leave to care for family is good for businesses.

DeLauro referenced the words of Chief Justice William Rehnquist when writing for the majority opinion in Nevada Dep't of Human Resources v. Hibbs, 538 U.S. 721 (2003). He disputed Judge Alito's logic, arguing stereotypes about men and women in the workplace, quote, "created a self-fulfilling cycle of discrimination that forced women to continue to assume the role of primary family caregiver." He said they "fostered employers' stereotypical views about women's commitment to work and their value as employees."

"Americans, women in particular, need to understand what placing Judge Alito on a closely-divided Supreme Court would mean for them. He is someone who has consistently ruled that Congress does not have the power to hold employers accountable for engaging in discrimination. Nor does he believe the Federal government has a responsibility to protect the "health, safety and welfare" of Americans. Hard-won victories like Family and Medical Leave are too important to let go of so easily. For the sake of themselves and their families, this is a fight women cannot afford to lose. That is why I urge the Senate to oppose the nomination of Samuel Alito."

http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2005/December/alito_nom_12_08_05.html