Vicky Hartzler: “Thank you very much. I appreciate the gentlewoman championing this issue, and we have brought our kids here and know the…”

“Thank you very much. I appreciate the gentlewoman championing this issue, and we have brought our kids here and know the challenges of juggling work and family--and we are not alone. As you said, many, many families in this country are facing these same challenges, and that is why I am so excited about your bill and so proud to sponsor it and stand with you tonight. The family is really the foundation of our country, and to have strong families, we need to be able to make ways to encourage them to be together, especially for those special, special events. I know there are many, many moms and dads out there working today who would love to be able to have the flexibility of the workplace where they can take off and spend some time with their kids at the soccer game, or when they get that phone call from the school that their child is sick, please come pick them up, to be able to have that flexibility to do that and to take them to the doctor or to stay home with them if they are sick. Then, as families age, many families need to be with their parent or need to go to the doctor with them. These are just commonsense things to allow that flexibility where you could work some overtime and choose, instead of having the extra money, you could choose to be able to use that to spend time with your family, those people that mean the most to you. That is just precious. It is priceless to be able to do that.…”