Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I want to thank Senators Jeffords and DeWine and Senator Ashcroft for their commitment to this bill. They have followed…”

“I want to thank Senators Jeffords and DeWine and Senator Ashcroft for their commitment to this bill. They have followed it through all the way from the beginning--Senator Ashcroft, as the key sponsor, and Senators DeWine and Jeffords, as the chairman of the subcommittee and full committee that shepherded this bill through because they believed so much in what this bill can do for the more than 60 million workers in this country, including 28 million women, who are paid by the hour. The Federal Government is saying to the hourly employees of this country, 'You cannot go in and ask your employer to take off at 3 o'clock on Friday and work until 7 o'clock on Monday.' You cannot do that because the Federal law says your employer cannot offer you that option. If your child is playing in a soccer game or a football game on Friday afternoon at 3 o'clock, you cannot go in and get that opportunity to see your child, because the Federal Government says you cannot do it.”