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Hillary: Extend Leave Time for Military Families
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton launched an effort Tuesday to double the amount of time relatives of wounded war veterans can take off from work to help them recover. Clinton, the early front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, rounded up a bipartisan group of senators seeking to extend family leave time for spouses or parents of seriously wounded troops from 12 weeks to six months. The lawmakers are trying to make the change as an amendment to a children's health insurance bill now working its way through Congress. "We don't have to spend any money, we don't have to build any bureaucracy, we just have to give these families the right to care for their loved one," said Clinton.
Story Continues Below Sens. Clinton, Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio said in a conference call Tuesday that they are acting in response to recommendations offered by Dole's husband, former senator and GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole, and former Clinton administration official Donna Shalala. Dole and Shalala earlier this month issued a report highlighting gaps in the care provided to wounded veterans of the Iraq war, and suggesting dozens of improvements. Last week another Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, introduced a bill that would allow the family or primary caregivers of wounded military personnel to take up to six months of unpaid leave. The measure would double the 12-week leave provided under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which Dodd authored.
© 2007 Associated Press.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
2008 Presidential Race
Inside Cover Stories
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