Tuesday, Dec. 13 – U.S. Rep. Don Beyer of Northern Virginia joined  Reps. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), and Don Bacon (R-NE) today to announce that  the amendment they advanced with Reps. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and 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.

“Every 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,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA). “Passage of this measure will be a big win for my constituents, many of whom are federal workers. But federal employees work all 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.”

Beyer is the House sponsor of the Comprehensive Paid Leave for Federal Employees Act, bipartisan legislation to expand federal paid leave to include 12 weeks of family and medical leave. He represents a Northern Virginia district with one of the largest concentrations of federal employees of the U.S. House.