WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined President of the National Partnership for Women & Families Debra Ness at the U.S. Capitol this week to discuss efforts to support women and families at home and in the workplace. As part of her efforts to protect and strengthen women’s rights, Duckworth highlighted her work to expand paid family leave, defend women’s access to affordable health care and support new mothers.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
“This is the time to move women’s rights forward, not roll back the progress we’ve made,” said Senator Duckworth. “I’ll keep working every day to ensure every woman – no matter her race or background – has equal opportunity to support herself and her family.”
Duckworth has been a staunch advocate for women and families as a Member of the House and Senate. She has been a vocal critic of efforts from Conservatives to shut down the government over funding for Planned Parenthood. In January, she signed a letter to Republican leadership urging them to reconsider their harmful attacks on women’s health care. In March, Duckworth helped introduce the FAMILY Act, which would create a universal paid leave program of up to 12 weeks for workers who need time to care for a newborn or adopted child, a seriously ill family member, or their own serious health condition.
As a Member of the House, Duckworth introduced the Friendly Airports for Mothers (FAM) Act to ensure breastfeeding mothers traveling through large- and medium-sized airports have accessible, clean and convenient lactation rooms to use. She also introduced the Military Parental Leave Modernization Act to allow all servicemembers—regardless of gender—to get at least 12 weeks of paid parental leave to care for a new child, eliminate policies that treat adoptive and foster parents as less deserving of parental leave and remove antiquated policies that fail to recognize modern family composition.
