Political Quotes

“I rise today to talk about the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which is a bill I first introduced in 2012 with Senator Shaheen of New Hampshire. Senator Cassidy from Louisiana has worked hard for years with me and with others to get this bill passed. I want to thank Senator Cassidy, as well as the chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Committee, Senator Murray; Ranking Member Burr of that same committee; and Majority Leader Schumer and others for all the work they have done to help us pass this bill. This is a commonsense bill that has broad bipartisan, bicameral support. Everyone from the ACLU to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports this legislation. These organizations didn't merely endorse the bill after reviewing it; they were actively involved in shaping the legislative text and finding agreement on the text that we are attempting to vote on, and they remain supportive today. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act simply closes a loophole in the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act to allow pregnant workers to request reasonable accommodations--``reasonable accommodations''; you are going to hear that phrase a lot today--so that that worker can continue working safely during their pregnancy and upon returning to work after childbirth. I am going to be coming back to that phrase in a moment, ``reasonable accommodations,'' but I want to cite just two examples among many.…”