Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge support for my amendment. My amendment to the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act would help ensure women have sufficient notice of the new protections afforded to them in this bill. By ensuring that eligible people are provided with sufficient informational resources, more women will be able to exercise their rights and the likelihood of employer defection will be reduced. In many places in this country, including my home State of North Carolina, it is easier to take a smoke break than for a mother to take a pump break. This is simply unacceptable. By passing the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, we can end this discrimination against breastfeeding workers and guarantee that no mother will have to choose between earning a living and feeding her child. But a law is only as effective as its enforcement, and we have unfortunately witnessed countless occasions where businesses have failed to inform workers of their rights. Just in this last year, the Department of Labor investigated six businesses in North Carolina for violations of breastfeeding rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act. My amendment would provide the necessary information to ensure these workplace violations do not continue. We owe it to our nursing mothers, their families, and our local communities to be vigilant about overseeing the implementation of this law.…”