“Fourteen years ago, the Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) significantly transformed the lives of millions of American workers and dramatically changed the American workplace. Since then, more than 50 million Americans have been able to take unpaid time off from work when medical crises strike or babies are born, but millions have been unable to take advantage of this important safeguard because they can’t afford to miss a paycheck.

The Family Leave Insurance Act of 2007 introduced by Senators Dodd and Stevens today is an important step towards making America a more family-friendly nation. The National Partnership for Women & Families helped conceive, draft and champion the FMLA, and we will be proud to help lead the fight to pass paid leave for America’s families.

Paid family and medical leave is good for employees and for employers. Working women and men need real solutions so they never have to choose between a paycheck and caring for their families in times of need. Paid family and medical leave has strong, bipartisan support nationwide because it not only helps working parents, it also benefits employers by increasing productivity and reducing employee turnover. We can’t afford not to implement measures like these.

It is time to put family values to work and pass federal paid family and medical leave legislation.”