The Nation - News from March 9, 1989

A House committee gave party-line approval to legislation that would require large employers to provide up to 10 weeks of unpaid leave for parents to take care of newborn or seriously ill children. The bill, a major part of congressional Democrats’ domestic agenda, also would require companies with 50 or more employees to grant similar leave to workers who need extended time off to take care of ailing parents. The measure cleared the House Education and Labor Committee on a 23-12 vote at the end of a daylong meeting in which the panel beat back about two dozen Republican-sponsored amendments.