Meng Joins Local Advocates to Stress Importance of Keeping Paid Leave in House-Passed Build Back Better Act
December 6, 2021
QUEENS, NY – This afternoon, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) joined local advocates to highlight the importance of keeping paid leave in the House-passed Build Back Better Act.
The Congresswoman joined Reshma Saujani, Founder of the Marshall Plan for Moms and Girls Who Code, PL+US (Paid Leave for the U.S.) Executive Director Molly Day, and many other advocates and advocacy organizations at a press conference in front of City Hall to underscore how critical it is to ensure that paid leave remains in the bill. The Build Back Better Act, a nearly $2 trillion spending bill that seeks to assist families and boost the nation's economy as the country works to rebound from the coronavirus crisis, passed the House on November 19th, and is now pending before the Senate. However, there are some Senators who want to remove the provision from the legislation.
"Paid leave would greatly help so many working families here in Queens and across New York and the nation," said Meng. "Attempts to strip it from the House-passed Build Back Better Act are unconscionable and unacceptable. The Build Back Better Act is an historic and monumental piece of legislation that I was proud to help pass in the House, and among the crucial items in the measure is four weeks of paid leave, a provision that we fought hard to secure. As the working mom of two young kids, I know how important paid leave is. It allows people to take paid time off from their jobs to spend time and bond with their newborns, care for a sick child or family member or recover from an illness, all without worrying about their paycheck. The U.S. is the only industrialized country without it, and it's way past time for that to change. Nobody should be forced to choose between their job and their family. We must not let this once in a generation opportunity to enact paid leave slip away. As we work to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must make sure that we move forward with no one left behind, and that includes working families. Paid leave must remain in the Build Back Better Act!"
"I am proud to stand alongside Congresswoman Grace Meng, a tireless champion of paid leave," said Reshma Saujani. "We need paid leave in the United States now. Over the last two years, millions of women have left the workforce to care for their families. The only way we will restore the workforce is by providing policies that offer women choice: to care for loved ones and to move in and out of the workforce without penalty. We will never get to gender equality without paid leave. We must fight for the provision in the Build Back Better Act."
"Thanks to champions like Congresswoman Meng, the paid leave program included in the House's version of the Build Back Better Act is an historic investment in working families across this country, at a time when the need for paid leave has never been more urgent," said Molly Day. "Paid leave will make our families, businesses, and our national economy stronger and help us to truly build back better and more equitably. Every worker deserves to be there for the moments that matter. The U.S. Senate now has a historic opportunity to deliver transformative, once-in-a-generation change, and we're committed to working with Democratic leadership to get it done."
Also attending the event were Dee Poku, Founder and CEO of The WIE Suite; Elise Anderson from Vote Mama; Molly Weston Williamson from A Better Balance and other advocates.
"Paid leave would ensure that working people can care for their children, their aging parents and themselves without worrying about losing their job or paycheck," said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). "It will make America more competitive in the global market and end our unacceptable reign as the only industrialized country in the world without a paid leave program. I strongly support the House proposal, and I will continue fighting to pass it in the Senate."
In addition to paid leave, the Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376) provides child care and home care, universal pre-K, health care and lower prescription drug pricing, housing, internet access, immigration reform, combating the climate crisis and more. The bill passed 220 to 213. Meng has long advocated for paid leave and the above provisions.
In emphasizing the need for relief, Meng noted that her congressional district was the heart of the epicenter when COVID-19 first struck the nation, and in September, Queens was hit hard by flooding from Hurricane Ida. Over the past year-and-a-half, many of her constituents have had their lives turned upside down, and many families continue to struggle. They need and deserve paid leave to help provide them with the relief they require.