{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=6048", "Bipartisan Delegation Secures Paid Leave For Veterans In Federal Workforce In NDAA Conference Report", "2023-12-12", "2023", "2023-12", "Democrat", "House", "VA", "Donald S. Beyer, Jr.", "B001292", "beyer.house.gov", "beyer", "https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "U.S. Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Don Bacon (R-NE), and Nancy Mace (R-SC) today announced that the amendment they advanced with Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) to expand access to family and medical leave for veterans in the federal workforce was adopted in the Conference Report for the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2024 (Title XI, Sec. 1114, pg. 735). The amendment would factor in military service when determining eligibility for family and medical leave policies for federal workers.\n\n\u201cEvery American worker deserves access to family and medical leave, and the provision we secured in the NDAA will recognize time in military service like time in the federal civil service,\u201d said Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA). \u201cPassage of this measure will be a big win for my constituents, many of whom are federal workers. But federal employees work across the United States, and a huge number of them served their country in uniform, so the benefit of this much-needed change to law will be felt all over the country. I am grateful to my colleagues in both chambers for their support for this legislation, and in particular to Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, Don Bacon, Nancy Mace, and Chris Smith for their leadership.\u201d\n\n\"I can\u2019t underscore enough how far federal paid family leave has come in the past few years,\u201d said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA). \u201cIn FY20, I secured 12 weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers; in FY23, I also secured 12 weeks for our service members. But even as we saw historic progress, a gap remained for our service members transitioning to a job in the federal government. By crediting time in uniform towards paid parental leave for the federal government, we will help retain the best and brightest America has to offer. I am grateful for the steadfast partnership of Rep. Beyer as we strengthen our workforce and, in turn, our national security. I look forward to seeing this policy signed into law in the coming weeks.\"\n\n\u201cProviding family medical leave benefits to federal employees is one of Congress\u2019 more significant legislative accomplishments over the past several years,\u201d said Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE). \u201cI\u2019m grateful for the opportunity to work with Congressman Beyer supporting veterans who choose to enter the federal work force by crediting their past military service toward their family and medical leave eligibility requirements. I\u2019m pleased this provision was included in the final conference agreement and look forward to it becoming law before the end of the year.\u201d\n\n\u201cMany Servicemembers transition from military service to federal service but their military time does not count towards the Family and Medical Leave Act. This provision which was included in the FY 2024 NDAA will allow veterans who are continuing civil service as a federal employee to count their military service towards the one year required to earn Family and Medical Leave,\u201d said Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC).", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=6048"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.240576945245266, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}