Chris Dodd for President

For over twenty years, Senator Chris Dodd has believed that hard-working Americans should be allowed to care for themselves and their loved ones during critical times in family life. This belief lead him to author and fight for passage of the historic Family and Medical Leave Act. After seven years and two vetoes, FMLA became law in 1993 and has since allowed more than 50 million workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a new child or a sick family member.

Despite its overwhelming success, millions of additional working men and women who need family leave – more than three in four employees -- have not been able to take it because they could not afford to go without pay. For that reason, Senator Dodd recently introduced the Family Leave Insurance Act of 2007, a bipartisan measure which would provide paid leave for eight of FMLA’s 12 weeks. This bill will provide workers with paid leave to care for themselves or their families in times of crisis without suffering the loss of a paycheck. Chris Dodd understands that with more and more families living on two incomes and with more and more baby boomers caring for their aging parents, a stronger FMLA is more vital now than ever.

In addition his continuing fight for working families, Senator Dodd recently continued his ongoing support of the troops by introducing legislation that would allow the family of wounded military personnel to take up to 6 months of unpaid leave, as an extended FMLA benefit, so that they can care for their loved ones when they return home. “I believe that Congress has few higher priorities than the safety and well-being of America’s combat heroes. The very least we owe them is our total support for their family and medical needs” said Dodd. Recently passed by the Senate, the approval of this legislation came a week after the release of a report by the President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors urging Congress to extend FMLA for up to six months for a family member of a service member who was severely injured in combat.

Just as he recently passed legislation to assist our wounded soldiers in their time of need, Senator Dodd now believes we must join together to pass paid family leave for hard working Americans who need it. A champion of the rights and needs of working people throughout his career, Senator Dodd believes our nation ought to encourage initiatives that ensure that no American ever has to choose between their job and the family that they love.

A Brief History of Chris Dodd’s Role in the FMLA

• Senator Chris Dodd is the author of the landmark Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which has allowed more than 50 million workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave if they are ill or if they need to care for a sick family member or new child.
• An estimated 50 million workers have been able to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave when they were ill or needed to care for a new child or a sick family member because of Dodd’s historic Family and Medical Leave Act.
• President Clinton signed FMLA into law on February 5, 1993. It was the first bill he signed as President. At the signing he said:

  “Family and medical leave is a matter of pure common sense and a matter of common decency. It will provide Americans what they need most: peace of mind. Never again will parents have to fear losing their jobs because of their families.”

• Clinton has also said:

  “Senator Chris Dodd is one of Congress’ most eloquent and effective advocates for children and working families.”

Timeline: Chris Dodd's Fight for FMLA

1986

Senator Chris Dodd introduced the Parental and Medical Leave Act on April 9, 1986, to provide job security and health insurance protection to working parents who must take leave to care for family members (newborn or adopted child; seriously ill child, spouse or elderly parent).

1987-98

Reintroduced the Parental and Medical Leave Act. The bill was brought to the Senate floor in October 1988, but was later shelved in the face of a Republican filibuster and a veto threat from President Reagan.

1989-90

Reintroduced as the Family and Medical Leave Act on February 2, 1989 and August 3, 1990. The measure passed the Senate unanimously on June 14, 1990, but was vetoed by President Bush on June 29, 1990. The House failed to override the veto on July 25, 1990.

1991-92

Reintroduced the Family and Medical Leave Act on January 24, 1991. The bill passed the Senate by a two-thirds vote of 65-32 on October 2, 1991.

1993

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 passed both houses and was the first bill signed into law by President Clinton. FMLA provides job security for millions of Americans by providing up to 12 weeks unpaid leave per year to care for a family member.

1993

Dodd appointed chair of the Commission on Family and Medical Leave which undertook a comprehensive study of the impact of FMLA and held hearings across the country.

1995

Chaired two hearings to follow up on the impact of FMLA and make recommendations for its success.

1996

Released the report of the Commission on Leave, "A Workable Balance: Report to Congress on Family and Medical Leave Policies," which found that FMLA was working well for both families and businesses.

1996

Introduced S. 1896, a bill to amend the FMLA of 1993 to apply the Act to a greater percentage of people and to allow employees to take leave to attend their children's educational and extracurricular activities.

1997

Introduced the FMLA Fairness Act, legislation to expand the protections of the FMLA to an additional 13 million workers and their families by lowering the FMLA coverage threshold to employers with 25 or more employees (down from 50 in current law) and providing parents with 24 hours of leave a year to attend children's educational and extracurricular activities. Dodd offered this bill as an amendment to S. 4, the Flex-time/Comp-time bill in the Labor Committee, but it was defeated on a party line vote.

1999

Reintroduced FMLA Fairness Act.

1999

Introduced S. 1355, the Family Income to Respond to Significant Transitions Insurance Act to fund demonstration projects in states or communities to provide partial or full wage replacement to new parents who take time off from work for the birth or adoption of a child.

2002

Senator Dodd filed an amicus curia brief in Ragsdale v. Wolverine World Wide, Inc. According to the Congressional Research Service, “the Supreme Court considered the validity of a FMLA regulation which provided that if an employee takes paid or unpaid leave and the employer does not designate the leave as FMLA leave, the leave taken would not count against the employee’s FMLA entitlement. The Court maintained that the regulation was invalid because it altered the FMLA’s cause of action in a fundamental way: ‘[The regulation] transformed the company’s failure to give notice – along with its refusal to grant her more . . . leave – into an actionable violation.’”

2003

Senator Dodd, along with other Members of Congress, filed an amicus brief in Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs. There, the “Court concluded that state employees could recover money damages from a state in federal court for violation of section 102(a)(1)(C) of the FMLA.” (CRS)

2002-05

Each year, introduced the FMLA Expansion Act, which funds a pilot program for states to find ways to fund 6 weeks of partial or fully paid leave while caring for a family member. The bill would also increase by 13 million workers, the number of people eligible to take advantage of FMLA benefits.

2005

Senator Dodd sent a letter (attached) to Secretary Chao urging the Department of Labor not to make regulatory changes to the FMLA that would narrow the definition of a serious health condition and restrict the use of intermittent leave.

2007

Dodd announces intention to introduce FMLA legislation for the 21st century to provide the resources necessary to help families who otherwise could not afford to take unpaid leave, take the leave they need as result of an illness, to care for an aging parent, or to care for a new child.

Dodd's Accomplishments in FMLA-Related Fields:

Child Care

Senator Dodd has been a long-respected leader in the effort to ensure that American children receive the best possible child care when their working parents seek it. As the author of the Child Care and Development Block Grant, he has fought for safe and stimulating child care facilities run by highly-qualified child care providers. As a proponent of expanding the Child Care Tax Credit, he has also worked to make child care more affordable to working families. In order to help parents further their education, he wrote a law that helps to establish child care facilities on college and university campuses. He has also led efforts to provide assistance for child care professionals and early education teachers and staff, so that our youngest children get off to the best possible start in their educational lives.

Economic Security for Working Families and Individuals

During his tenure in the Senate, Chris Dodd has supported common sense initiatives -- including increasing the minimum wage, extending unemployment insurance, and streamlining job training programs -- to ensure that working men and women have the tools to lift themselves up. It has been nine years since Congress last increased the minimum wage. Currently, a man or woman who works 50 weeks in a year at the minimum wage earns less than the poverty level for a family of four. In order to reward work in America, we must ensure that the minimum wage for full-time workers lifts them out of poverty. It is also imperative that workers are as safe and healthy as possible at their place of employment. Senator Dodd believes that safety and health regulations not only benefit workers, but benefit businesses, as well, by keeping their employees productive.

Head Start/Afterschool Programs

Throughout his service in the Senate, Chris Dodd has been an unwavering supporter of Head Start, which provides early childhood health and educational services to low-income children to prepare them for success in school and throughout their lives. Head Start has assisted millions of children and Senator Dodd has worked to strengthen it and expand it to reach infants and toddlers by supporting the creation of Early Head Start. He continues to strive for more qualified Head Start teachers and for improved learning and health for children served by Head Start. For his dedicated efforts to strengthen Head Start, Dodd was honored as national Head Start “Senator of the Decade.” Senator Dodd has worked to create after-school initiatives designed to keep children out of trouble and on the road to success.