Good morning. I am Debra Ness, President of the National Partnership for Women &
Families. The National Partnership is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy group
dedicated to promoting fairness in the workplace, access to quality health care, and
policies that help workers in the United States meet the dual responsibilities of work and
family.

We lead a broad, diverse coalition of more than 200 groups dedicated to defending and
expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) on behalf of workers in the
United States. The coalition includes groups representing the faith community, women,
seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, and many others.

When we’re not protecting the FMLA from regulatory changes that could scale back its
basic protections, we are working to expand it by securing paid family and medical leave
so that no worker has to choose between a paycheck and caring for a loved one or
recovering from illness.

It is an honor to be here today to testify in support of the Federal Employees Paid
Parental Leave Act of 2007 (HR 3799). More »