To: Members of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Sen. Richard Shelby (AL-1), and Sen. Mitch McConnell (KY-1)
Let Senators Breastfeed on the Senate Floor
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We urge you to make the Senate more welcoming to Senators who are new parents, by allowing these Senators to take paid family leave and not be physically present for votes, and to bring their babies to the floor within the first year of the child’s life.
Why is this important?
My name is Rachel, and my Senator, Tammy Duckworth, made history -- by giving birth to a daughter!
In 230 years Senator Duckworth is the first Senator to give birth while in office, and as an Illinois voter and mom of two adorable kids, including a newborn, it makes me so proud.
Like me, and most new moms in the country, I bet the challenges around returning to work are already on her mind.
Senate rules prevent her from taking maternity leave, at least not without missing votes! And they don’t let her bring her new baby on the Senate floor -- so she might really struggle to prioritize breastfeeding when she has to rush back in time for votes.
These Senate rules are ridiculously outdated - and send a terrible signal to employers everywhere.
That’s why I’ve started a campaign to change the rules to allow all Senators to bring their babies to the floor (within the first year of the child’s life) -- join me!
We have a severe and persistent leadership gap in this country. Just 5% of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies, 8% of Governors and 19% of Congress are women.
As a result, there are so few leaders who have had the experience of giving birth at all, let alone while serving in office. It’s no surprise that our policies around birth and babies in America are among the worst in the world.
We need to change that so new parents can fully lead and represent us.
As Senator Duckworth says “whether you are a woman or a man, whether you're breastfeeding or not, or you've adopted, you should be able to bring that child on to the floor and continue to do your job."
In 230 years Senator Duckworth is the first Senator to give birth while in office, and as an Illinois voter and mom of two adorable kids, including a newborn, it makes me so proud.
Like me, and most new moms in the country, I bet the challenges around returning to work are already on her mind.
Senate rules prevent her from taking maternity leave, at least not without missing votes! And they don’t let her bring her new baby on the Senate floor -- so she might really struggle to prioritize breastfeeding when she has to rush back in time for votes.
These Senate rules are ridiculously outdated - and send a terrible signal to employers everywhere.
That’s why I’ve started a campaign to change the rules to allow all Senators to bring their babies to the floor (within the first year of the child’s life) -- join me!
We have a severe and persistent leadership gap in this country. Just 5% of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies, 8% of Governors and 19% of Congress are women.
As a result, there are so few leaders who have had the experience of giving birth at all, let alone while serving in office. It’s no surprise that our policies around birth and babies in America are among the worst in the world.
We need to change that so new parents can fully lead and represent us.
As Senator Duckworth says “whether you are a woman or a man, whether you're breastfeeding or not, or you've adopted, you should be able to bring that child on to the floor and continue to do your job."