Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 716, I call up the bill (H.R. 3110) to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to expand access to breastfeeding accommodations in the workplace, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. 3110, the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, today the House has an opportunity to pass H.R. 3110, the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act, or the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, a bipartisan bill that would strengthen workplace protections for nursing mothers.

Nursing mothers should have a clear right to break time and a clean, private space to pump breast milk at work. As we have heard from health experts and worker advocates across the country, these basic accommodations ensure that nursing mothers can balance their work, their health, and the health of their babies.

Regrettably, many nursing mothers still do not have these protections. Under current law, millions of workers--including farmworkers, transportation workers, and teachers--are currently excluded from Federal protections for nursing employees.

The nursing mothers who are covered by existing law have limited recourse when their rights are violated.

To close these gaps, the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act expands existing protections for nursing mothers for nearly 9 million employees who are currently left out. It provides nursing workers with access to meaningful remedies when employers fail to provide appropriate time and pumping space.

Importantly, this bill includes an amendment to clarify that congressional employees are covered by these protections and to address safety concerns by including airline crew members break time to pump during a flight.

No working American should be forced to choose between going to work and staying healthy, so we must take this urgent step to support nursing workers and strengthen our economy.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a Statement of Administration Policy in support of H.R. 3110. Statement of Administration Policy

H.R. 3110--PUMP FOR NURSING MOTHERS ACT--Rep. Maloney, D-NY, and 8 cosponsors

The Administration strongly supports House passage of H.R. 3110, the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act. No new mother should face unfair treatment in the workplace because their employer refuses to provide them with reasonable break time and private, clean space needed to adequately express breast milk while at work, forcing them to choose between their health and the health of her child, and earning a paycheck. Yet millions of new working mothers, disproportionately working mothers of color, face this challenge every day.

Congress recognized the importance of ensuring that workers are able to have the time and space they need to express breast milk by passing section 4207 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as the 2010 Break Time for Nursing Mothers Act. The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act would ensure that millions of working mothers previously excluded from the 2010 Break Time law are protected. By closing this gap, the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act will ensure millions of nursing mothers have a clear right to pump at work. Without these protections, nursing mothers face serious health consequences, including risk of painful illness and infection, diminished milk supply, or inability to continue breastfeeding.

H.R. 3110 is a bipartisan bill that would also require employers to pay an hourly employee for any time spent pumping if the employee is also working. The legislation would ensure that nursing mothers have access to remedies available for other violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Finally, the PUMP Act also gives employers flexibility to identify solutions that work for their specific business environment. For example, the bill requires employees to inform their employers about inadequate space to express breast milk 10 days before filing suit for violating the requirement.

The Administration encourages the House to pass this bipartisan, commonsense legislation and looks forward to working with the Congress to fill the gaps in the law so that all new mothers who choose to breastfeed are guaranteed the workplace protections they deserve.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney), chair of the Oversight and Reform Committee and the lead Democratic sponsor of the bill.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his incredible leadership in this body.

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3110, the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, a bipartisan bill I authored with Representative Herrera Beutler. Our bill has also been introduced in the Senate by Senators Merkley and Murkowski.

When I first came to Congress, working mothers would come to me, often in tears, and advocate for a place to safely pump breast milk. Often, they were fired, ridiculed, forbidden, or forced to pump milk in bathrooms.

Since those years, I have worked for on-site lactation rooms, here in government and really everywhere in our country.

In 1998, I passed a provision allowing State WIC agencies to purchase breast pumps for new mothers, making it easier for low-income moms to choose breastfeeding.

In 1999, Congress passed my bill to guarantee the right to breastfeed on Federal property.

Most recently, Senator Merkley and I passed the Break Time for Nursing Mothers as part of the Affordable Care Act. This act provides employees with critical protections to provide break time for nursing mothers and a private place to pump milk.

The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act we are considering today builds on the Break Time Act by protecting the nearly 9 million employees who were not originally included in these protections. Those covered by the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act now include teachers, nurses, farmworkers, and software engineers, to name a few.

The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act would also ensure that nursing mothers have remedies if their employers fire them or violate these breastfeeding protections. In addition, if an employee is fired for taking a break, the PUMP Act ensures that workers can seek reinstatement.

It also extends breastfeeding protections for 2 years, in line with recommendations from the World Health Organization.

Over 150 organizations have endorsed this important legislation. I include in the Record letters of support from some of those organizations, including the Center for WorkLife Law, and MomsRising, to name a few.

Written Statement of the Center for WorkLife Law Before the United States House of Representatives--September 24, 2021

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader McCarthy, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives: The Center for WorkLife Law submits this letter to the U.S. House of Representatives in full support of the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act (H.R. 3110).

The Center for WorkLife Law is a research and advocacy organization that seeks to advance gender, racial, and class equity in employment and education. We collaborate with employees, employers, attorneys, and government officials to identify practical and legal solutions to work-family issues.

WorkLife Law's 2019 report Exposed: Discrimination Against Breastfeeding Workers found that shortcomings of the existing Break Time for Nursing Mothers law have caused lactating employees to face significant obstacles at work. Even with the current law's protections, breastfeeding employees leaking milk have been denied permission to take pumping breaks; they have been fired just for asking; and refused privacy, forcing them to pump milk with their breasts exposed to coworkers, clients, and the public in physically unsafe conditions. Employees who do not receive the break time and private space they need can face serious health consequences, including illness and painful infections, diminished milk supply, and weaning earlier than doctors recommend. Many employees also suffer economic losses when they are fired or forced to resign following a request for lactation accommodations.

The PUMP Act would correct key shortcomings of existing law that undermine the economic security and health of women and their families.

Closing the Coverage Gap that Excludes Millions of Workers

Nearly 9 million women of childbearing age are currently excluded from the protections of the Break Time for Nursing Mothers Law, meaning they have no clear federal right to receive break time and private space to pump milk during the workday. This exclusion was unintentional at the time the law was enacted. The resulting coverage gap is considerable and impacts employees in a wide range of occupations, including many of those working in the top two pink-collar occupations: nursing and teaching. The PUMP Act would correct this senseless exclusion to bring all workers whose employers are covered by the FLSA under the law's protection. Providing Appropriate Remedies to Encourage Compliance

Even when clear violations occur, the Break Time for Nursing Mothers provision cannot be counted on to deliver appropriate remedies in a court of law. Because employers cannot be held accountable for intentional legal violations, noncompliance has been widespread. As one judge expressed in the case of an EMT who was fired simply for asking that she be given break time and space: ``While the Court is sympathetic to Plaintiff's argument that this renders [the Nursing Mothers law] ineffective, there is no support from the case law or DOL [Department of Labor]'' to provide a remedy. Another federal judge observed: ``An employer faced with a request to allow an employee to take breaks to breastfeed may simply fire the employee rather than attempt to accommodate the request for breaks. And indeed, the Center for WorkLife Law has heard from too many workers whose employers have done exactly that.

The PUMP Act would correct this absurdity and encourage employers to follow the law by making remedies that are already available in other employment law contexts equally available to breastfeeding workers.

However, the PUMP Act is not expected to lead to a significant increase in lawsuits. A recent analysis by the Center for WorkLife Law found that while enforceable laws increase breastfeeding rates, they do not cause a meaningful increase in litigation rates. The study reviewed all cases filed in each state with enforceable lactation break time and space laws (similar to the PUMP Act) through 2020 and found:

Litigation rates for violations of the state laws were extremely low. Over the combined forty-seven years that the four jurisdictions' break time and space laws have been in effect, there were only six (6) cases total.

The annual likeihood a private employer will be sued under a break time and space law is essentially zero (0.0002 percent). A business owner is over 25 times more likely to be struck by lightning in their lifetime.

Notably, the state laws WorkLife Law studied do not include the additional employer protection found in the PUMP Act that gives businesses 10 days to correct space violations before any lawsuit can be filed, a provision that will further decrease the number of lawsuits that would be filed should the PUMP Act pass.

The PUMP Act is a balanced approach that meets the needs of breastfeeding employees while also serving employers who make reasonable attempts to follow the law. When employers have clear standards to meet, and appropriate consequences if they don't, employers have shown that they are able to provide the break time and space that working mothers need. Complying with break time and space requirements is simple, and creative solutions exist in all industries. As described by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, employers that support breastfeeding with affordable solutions realize cost savings from increased loyalty and retention, reduced sick time, and decreased health care and insurance costs.

Our organization urges all members of Congress to vote in support because the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act would ensure that all breastfeeding women have the full protection of the law and ability to meet their basic needs while away from their nursing babies during the workday. It is a simple solution that promotes maternal and child health, as well as the economic security of women and families.

Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Liz Morris, Center for WorkLife Law, UC Hastings College of the Law. ____

Written Statement of Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner Co-Founder & Executive Director, MomRising Before the United States House of Representatives-- September 24, 2021

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader McCarthy, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives: MomsRising submits this letter to the U.S. House of Representatives in full support of the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act (H.R. 3110).

MomsRising is a national online and on-the-ground grassroots organization with more than a million members nationwide. We work on a broad range of issues and policies to achieve economic security for all moms, women, and families in the United States.

While nearly four out of five U.S. mothers start out breastfeeding, less than half are still breastfeeding at six months postpartum. One of the main causes for the drop-off in breastfeeding rates is the lack of break time and a private place to pump in the workplace. MomsRising members around the country have shared their stories and pictures about needing better places to pump breastmilk.

Currently, federal law requires employers for most hourly wage-earning and some salaried employees (nonexempt workers) reasonable break time and a private, non-bathroom location to express breast milk for one year after the child's birth, This is a great first step, but it leaves millions of workers without any protections at all. We must close the gap in the law and expand protections for all breastfeeding mothers who work outside of the home. The PUMP Act will close gaps and include meaningful enforcement.

Breastfeeding isn't just good for moms and babies. The fact is that breastfeeding is good for the physical and economic health of our nation. Recent studies have shown if mothers could meet current medical recommendations for breastfeeding it would save the US economy nearly $13 billion per year in paediatric health costs and premature deaths.

With three-quarters of moms being the primary or co- breadwinner these days, we must close the gap in existing law and expand protections for all breastfeeding mothers who work outside of the home. Sadly returning to work is too often a significant barrier to breastfeeding, but we can do better.

Please support all breastfeeding and working moms and support the PUMP Act.

Thank you for your consideration, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Co-Founder & Executive Director, MomRising.

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. As these organizations have demonstrated, without these protections, nursing mothers face serious health consequences, including the risk of painful illness and the inability to continue to breastfeed.

Studies have shown the health benefits for breastfed infants. It is really important and can prevent other diseases.

These basic protections would ensure that working moms who want to breastfeed can continue to do so and prevent nursing mothers from being singled out, ridiculed, or fired.

This bill is an important step for work-family balance. We say we support families. Today is a vote for families, work-family balance, and mothers and infants.

Madam Speaker, I urge a strong ``yes'' bipartisan vote.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington State (Ms. Herrera Beutler), the co-chair of the Maternity Care Caucus and the lead Republican sponsor on the bill.

Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of our bipartisan bill, the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act.

Honestly, the whole goal of this legislation is to protect a nursing mother's ability to provide for her infant by pumping at work.

And let me be clear, this is a business-friendly bill. This is current law. For those who are thinking we are shaking the Earth and doing something brand-new, it actually is current law. There were problems with the way the current law was written; it was actually put in the wrong place in code, and we are fixing that.

So the way it is currently, you could be a mom who gets into working and you have worked your way up into a career where you are salaried and you make a decent amount of money, but you were excluded from this legislation. You didn't have the right to expect this, even though other workers did.

We are simply making some of those changes to make sure that folks who were not eligible for overtime, like that working mom, would be covered under current law.

This bill gives businesses clarity and predictability and allows small businesses to claim undue hardship exemptions in recognition of the unique challenges that they face.

Making sure our economy works is a huge priority to me, but we have to also recognize that working moms make up a significant portion--and should--of the workforce, and it is going to grow.

I thank my colleagues for improving this bill to reflect its original intent with regard to businesses, namely, differentiating between large corporations and mom-and-pop operations.

As a mom of three young kids myself, I understand finding the balance of raising kids, going to work, and just simply finding a place to pump while working.

My first child was a 28-week preemie. It was imperative for her to have breast milk; we were told this by her doctors. She could not handle formula, and they said it is imperative that you do what you can to breastfeed her. And I joke I am going to write a book called, Oh, the places I have pumped. I have pumped in trains, on planes, in automobiles, in some poor low-ranking officer's office at the Pentagon, at a kibbutz in Israel on a codel; I mean, everywhere. And I can tell you, there are places that are clean and helpful, and it doesn't have to be like the Taj Mahal; you just need something that is not crammed in a public toilet where people are flushing over you.

So on a really serious note, this is a critical piece of legislation that is going to empower women in the workforce to continue to provide for their families.

Imagine a single mother not having that choice, she has to work, and maybe she wants to provide breast milk for her child or maybe she has to in a circumstance like mine. Making sure that mothers of infants and toddlers can continue to do this in the workforce and continue to join the workforce is absolutely vital.

With women making up over half of our Nation's workforce, it is crucial that moms aren't forced to choose between going to their job or breastfeeding their child.

With the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's endorsement of this legislation, this bill seeks to help, not hinder, an employer's ability to provide a safe space for moms to pump.

I am proud to help lead this bipartisan legislation with my colleague, Congresswoman Maloney, so moms in southwest Washington and across this country can feel secure.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Washington.

Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record letters of support from the United States Chamber of Commerce and the National Retail Federation. Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, Washington, DC, September 28, 2021.

To the Members of the U.S. House of Representative: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce strongly supports H.R. 3110, the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act, as reported from the Education and Labor Committee and as anticipated to be be improved via manager's amendment. We hope this legislation will be further refined as the legislative process continues to address the unique issues related to the air travel sector.

This legislation would update the Break Time for Nursing Mothers Act, which became law in 2010. This law amended the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to require employers with more than 50 employees to provide a space for mothers to either nurse or, more likely, to express breast milk. It also requires employers to provide reasonable breaks for workers to nurse. Because the legislation amended the FLSA's overtime provision, it did not cover workers exempt from overtime. It also lacks an enforcement mechanism.

The PUMP Act would expand coverage to those workers currently exempt and would provide workers with a remedy if employers fail to provide accommodation or reasonable breaks. The bill as passed by the Education and Labor Committee and the manager's amendment would improve upon the introduced version of H.R. 3110 in several key areas:

Employers would be allowed 10 days to improve space allocated for nursing mothers before employees could proceed with seeking relief from the courts. This provision would assure that more employees can get the accommodations they need in a timely manner rather than triggering a drawn out, costly, and uncertain litigation process.

Department of Labor would be required to issue guidance that is consistent with the existing information from the Office on Women's Health of the Department of Health and Human Services' website in order to assist employers with compliance.

The number of employees necessary for employers to be eligible for the hardship exemption would be made consistent with other provisions of law.

This legislation should be improved to provide a reasonable exemption for the air travel sector. The limitations on space on airplanes would make compliance with this legislation impractical and in some cases impossible. We hope this issue is addressed as the bill makes its way through the legislative process.

The PUMP Act is a win-win for nursing mothers and the companies that employ them. Employers would get clarity and a way to avoid litigation, and nursing mothers would be able to remain in the workforce. The bill as reported by the Education and Labor Committee and augmented by the manager's amendment is the product of collaborative negotiations between employers and advocates for this bill. The Chamber is pleased to strongly support this legislation. Sincerely, Neil L. Bradley. ____ National Retail Federation, Washington, DC, October 12, 2021. Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Speaker Pelosi: On behalf of the National Retail Federation, I write to express our support for and urge the passage of H.R. 3110, the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers (PUMP) Act.

NRF, the world's largest retail trade association, passionately advocates for the people, brands, policies and ideas that help retail thrive. From its headquarters in Washington, D.C., NRF empowers the industry that powers the economy. Retail is the nation's largest private-sector employer, contributing $3.9 trillion to annual GDP and supporting one in four U.S. jobs--52 million working Americans. For over a century, NRF has been a voice for every retailer and every retail job, educating, inspiring and communicating the powerful impact retail has on local communities and global economies.

For over a decade, federal law has required employers to provide nursing mothers with reasonable break times to express breast milk. Further, employers must designate a facility in which to do so, that is shielded from view and ``free from intrusion from coworkers and the public.'' As enacted, only nursing mothers who are non-exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) were covered by the new requirements. The PUMP Act would expand coverage to all nursing mothers. This legislation also includes important provisions that will ensure that employers are properly notified if it is alleged that they are not providing appropriate facilities for nursing, including a 10-calendar- day time period for employers to provide such facilities before any litigation can commence.

The PUMP Act is a sound piece of bipartisan legislation that will allow nursing mothers to maintain their vital role the American workplace. Sincerely, David French, Senior Vice President Government Relations.

Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER. Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Underwood), the co-chair of the Black Maternal Health Caucus.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard), the co-chair of the Maternity Care Caucus.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bonamici), the chair of the Civil Rights and Human Services Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record letters in support of the bill from the AFSCME and the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, Washington, DC, October 21, 2021. House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Representative: On behalf of the 1.4 million members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), I urge you to vote yes on the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act (R.R. 3110). This bill prioritizes both the physical and economic needs that new mothers must balance upon returning to work. It strengthens federal employment standards that protect working women who need break time and a private space, other than a bathroom, to express breast milk.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) currently requires employers with more than 50 employees to provide a space for mothers to either nurse or express breast milk. Covered employers must also provide reasonable breaks for workers to nurse. An estimated 8.65 million women of childbearing age are excluded from these nursing mother protections because they are not covered by wage and hour standards under the FLSA. Current law also lacks broader enforcement mechanisms for workers denied these protections.

H.R. 3110 improves current protections by:

Expanding the number of nursing workers protected by the law.

Extending the duration of the protections from one year after the child's birth to two years after the employee gives birth or begins providing breast milk for a nursing child.

Limiting undue hardship exemption to employers with fewer than 25 employees, rather than employers with fewer than 50 employees under current law.

Clarifying that banned workers can seek legal and equitable relief for their employer's failure to provide them with the needed break times and private space to express milk.

We urge you to stand with working women and their families by voting to pass H.R. 3110. Sincerely, Bailey K. Childers, Director of Federal Government Affairs. ____ Written Statement of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), AFL-CIO Before the United States House of Representatives--September 27, 2021

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader McCarthy, and Members of Congress: The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) AFL-CIO submits this letter to the U.S. House of Representatives in full support of the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act (H.R. 3110).

AFA represents nearly 50,000 Flight Attendants at 17 airlines. Our union has advanced the Flight Attendant profession for 75 years, beating back discrimination and improving wages, benefits, working conditions, and aviation safety, health and security in the aircraft cabin. When the profession began Flight Attendants could not be married or pregnant, among other discriminatory conditions of employment.

For years, AFA has identified the need for federal protections for nursing Flight Attendants because none exist. In 2010, the Break Time law, which amended the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to require that employers provide reasonable break time as well as a private place other than a bathroom to express milk provided a monumental step in the right direction. However, millions of nursing mothers were unintentionally left out of this important piece of legislation. The PUMP Act finally rectifies this oversight and includes Flight Attendants.

In 2021, AFA conducted a survey of almost 400 Flight Attendants to understand their perspective on pumping and expressing breast milk during the course of their work day. An overwhelming majority (86 percent) of Flight Attendant respondents indicated that they faced significant obstacles pumping while on and off duty, as well as in between flights. As a result, 75 percent of Flight Attendant respondents decided to quit pumping and expressing breast milk before they planned to because it was too difficult to find the time, a private location, a clean environment, and access to cold storage for their milk.

We support the PUMP Act because it will alleviate many of these obstacles for nursing Flight Attendant moms to ensure they have the right, along with the privacy, to pump and express milk. We realize this is a complex issue for Flight Attendants who work in an unconventional workplace. However, we can and should do better to support these nursing mothers in the workplace.

We urge all members of Congress to vote in support of H.R. 3110, the PUMP Act. Thank you for your consideration, Steve Schembs, Director of Government Affairs, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA).

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, it has now been more than a decade since Congress passed critical protections to guarantee nursing workers break time and private space to express breast milk at work.

As we have heard today from Members on both sides of the aisle, these protections are essential to protecting the health of nursing workers and their families, yet nursing workers are continuing to suffer from gaps and weaknesses in the Federal law.

The need to address these gaps is even greater today as our economy recovers from COVID-19. Millions of workers, particularly working mothers, are looking to re-enter the workforce after being forced out of their jobs during the pandemic.

The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act would provide workers with the peace of mind that they will not have to choose between returning to work and protecting themselves and their babies.

Madam Speaker, we have an opportunity to deliver on our promise to help all workers recover from the pandemic, stay safe, and succeed in their careers. This legislation will strengthen existing law, improve the lives of nursing workers across the country, and help our economy get back on its feet.

We know this program works because the provisions in this bill are already law on the Federal level and in several States, without the kind of problems that have been suggested that might happen--those have not occurred under present law--and without any explosion of lawsuits. These provisions are already law, and there have not been lawsuits.

The substitute offered by the minority does not expand to as many mothers as this bill does, and it would actually roll back some protections they already have.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney) and the gentlewoman from Washington State (Ms. Herrera Beutler) for their leadership on this bipartisan legislation.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source