Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the bipartisan PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act.

Since 2010, the Affordable Care Act has required employers to provide nursing mothers with break time to express milk, as well as access to a private non-bathroom space for pumping.

Although this was a significant improvement for working moms--one that I didn't have when I was breastfeeding my babies--the law still left 9 million workers uncovered, including teachers, agriculture workers, engineers, and others.

This coverage gap is unacceptable, and it means that each year millions of parents who choose to breastfeed must decide between the health of their child and maintaining employment. The coverage gap has also disproportionately harmed Black and brown women, who represent 12 percent of the workforce but nearly 20 percent of women of childbearing age who are not covered by the existing break time provision.

The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act will address this coverage gap by simply amending the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide protections to workers who are not currently covered.

As Representative Herrara Beutler explained, this is current law. We are just closing a gap that is leaving too many nursing moms out. It will also clarify that if a worker is not relieved of their duties during the time spent pumping, then those hours must count as hours worked.

Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support the rights of women in the workplace and to help their families by joining me in voting for the bipartisan PUMP Act.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a letter in support of the bill from the United States Breastfeeding Committee. Written Statement of Nikia Sankofa Executive Director of the U.S.

Breastfeeding Committee Before the United States House of Representatives--September 24, 2021

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader McCarthy, and all members of the U.S. House of Representatives: The U.S. Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) 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 USBC is a coalition of more than 100 national nonprofits, breastfeeding coalitions, community-based organizations, and federal agency partners that support a shared mission to drive collaborative efforts for policy and practices that create a landscape of breastfeeding support across the United States. We are committed to ensuring that all families in the U.S. have the support, resources, and accommodations to achieve their breastfeeding goals in the communities where they live, learn, work, and play.

We know that the vast majority of people become parents during their lifetime, and their needs and the needs of their infants are neither surprising nor difficult to meet if we plan appropriately. A simple and common-sense policy solution to address ongoing workplace barriers and inequities is within the reach of Congress through the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act (H.R. 3110), which strengthens the existing Break Time for Nursing Mothers law and has bipartisan and bicameral support. Human Milk: A Proven Prevention Strategy

Breastfeeding is a primary prevention strategy that builds a foundation for life-long health and wellness, adapting overtime to meet the changing needs of the growing child. The evidence for the value of human milk feeding to overall health is scientific, robust, and continually being reaffirmed by new researcher.

Human milk feeding is proven to reduce the risk of a range of illnesses and conditions for infants and mothers. Compared with commercial milk formula fed children, breastfed infants have a reduced risk of ear, skin, stomach, and respiratory infections; diarrhea; and sudden infant death syndrome. In the longer term, breastfed children have a reduced risk of obesity, type 1 and 2 diabetes, asthma, and childhood leukemia. Women who breastfed their children have a reduced long-term risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and breast and ovarian cancers. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends infants be exclusively breastfed for about 6 months with continued breastfeeding while introducing complementary foods for at least 1 year. Barriers to Success

The great majority of pregnant women and new parents want to breastfeed, but significant barriers in the community, health care, and employment settings can impede breastfeeding success. In 2017, the national breastfeeding initiation rate among infants was 84.1 percent, representing a 13.8 percent increase from 2001. However, by six months of age, only 25.6 percent of U.S. infants exclusively breastfeed. Despite overall increases in breastfeeding initiation and duration, deep racial, geographic, and socioeconomic disparities in breastfeeding rates persist. Compared to national averages, only 73.7 percent of Black infants and 80.7 percent of Native American infants are ever breastfed, contributing to inequalities in maternal and infant health outcomes. Furthermore, a distressing 60 percent of mothers report that they did not breastfeed for as long as they intended.

Structural and environmental barriers can make it difficult or impossible for families to establish an adequate milk supply to sustain human milk feeding at medically recommended levels. For many families, rather than being a matter of personal choice, infant feeding practice is informed by circumstance.

More than half of mothers enter or return to the labor force before their children turn one year old, with as many as one in four women returning within just two weeks of giving birth. When back at work or school, many discover that they are unable to pump breast milk as frequently as necessary or they have no choice but to pump in an unsanitary or unsafe location, such as a bathroom. Economically- marginalized women and non-white women are more likely to return to work earlier than their more affluent white counterparts. Without necessary accommodations, they are too often unable to produce enough milk for a caregiver to feed their child during separations and may not be able to maintain their milk supply.

Breastfeeding families throughout the United States are facing barriers that make it difficult or impossible to start or continue breastfeeding--but it does not have to be this way. Public health initiatives, including legal and policy interventions and approaches designed to enable more infants to breastfeed, have the potential to markedly improve population health. Current Laws and Simple Accommodations Across Industries

The Break Time for Nursing Mothers law (Break Time law), passed in 2010, provides critical protections to ensure that employees have reasonable break time and a safe, private place to pump breast milk. All the same strategies that businesses use for any other type of break time, such as rest breaks, meal breaks, or medical breaks can be utilized to support breastfeeding employees.

Businesses of all sizes and in every industry have found simple, cost-effective ways to meet the needs of their breastfeeding employees as well as their business. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office on Women's Health hosts the Supporting Nursing Moms at Work resource, which provides a critical link between the need for workplace support for breastfeeding families and the need for implementation guidance for their employers. The online resource provides a user-friendly tool that employers can use to identify and implement industry-specific solutions to providing time and space accommodations that work from farm fields to grocery stores, and restaurants to offices. These examples are already helping employers and employees identify practical solutions that work for their business.

In many workspaces, compliance is as simple as placing butcher paper or a curtain over a window in a managers' office. In outdoor worksites, pop up tents or the cab of a construction vehicle are used to meet the needs of breastfeeding employees. To be functional, the pumping space simply needs to be furnished with seating and a flat surface such as a desk, small table, or shelf for the breast pump. As long as the space is available each time the breastfeeding employee needs it, the employer is meeting the requirements of the law. If there are no breastfeeding employees, the employer does not need to maintain a space. Gaps in Current Law and Impact on Families

Unfortunately, the placement of the Break Time law within section 7(r) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) resulted in nearly 9 million women--nearly one in four women of childbearing age--being excluded from coverage. Those left unprotected include teachers, software engineers, and many nurses, among others. Without these protections, breastfeeding employees face serious health consequences, including risk of painful illness and infection, diminished milk supply, or in ability to continue breastfeeding.

Over the past decade we have learned how to make breastfeeding and employment work, but the significant coverage gaps in the Break Time for Nursing Mothers law mean that workplace breastfeeding accommodation implementation is radically inconsistent. Employees of the same company and in the same building frequently do not have access to the same accommodations, and to figure out who must be accommodated can be complicated for businesses.

In addition, little recourse is available for employees who are covered by the Break Time law to ensure they can use their rights. Section 7(r) of the FLSA does not specify any penalties if an employer is found to have violated the break time for nursing mothers requirements. This means that in most instances, an employee may only bring an action for unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation and an additional equal amount in liquidated damages. According to the Request for Information on the Break Time for Nursing Mothers provision, which includes the Department of Labor's preliminary interpretations of the law, ``Because employers are not required to compensate employees for break time to express breastmilk, in most circumstances there will not be any unpaid minimum wage or overtime compensation associated with the failure to provide such breaks. A Bipartisan Solution to Simplify Existing Law: the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act

A policy solution with bipartisan support, the PUMP Act would support breastfeeding employees while clarifying implementation for employers across the nation. The bill would strengthen the 2010 Break Time law by closing the coverage gap and providing remedies for nursing mothers that are available for other violations of the FLSA.

The Break Time for Nursing Mothers provision is written with language that provides immense flexibility and does not require the construction of a permanent, dedicated lactation space. The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act would maintain this flexibility. More than half of all states have enacted legislation that impacts breastfeeding employees. For many of these states, the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act would have little to no impact on employer requirements.

For over ten years, the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee has worked with organizations and government agencies on this issue. We have documented the experiences of workers and employers, seen the innovative solutions created by businesses of all sizes, and identified the legislative gaps that need to be addressed. After more than a decade of raising awareness and mobilizing action, one thing is clear: America needs the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act.

By aligning federal law with the needs of families and ensuring that employers have the comprehensive resources and support that they need, we can create a better tomorrow together.

Thank you for your consideration. Nikia Sankofa, Executive Director, U.S. Breastfeeding Committee.

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