VIDEO: Klobuchar Calls for Swift Passage of Resolution to Allow Senators to Bring Their Newborn Children on Senate Floor

As Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee, Klobuchar is working to move the resolution quickly through Committee so it can come to the Senate floor for a vote 

Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) recently become the first sitting senator to have a child; Resolution would allow her and any other senators to bring their infants onto the Senate floor in order to vote on legislation

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) spoke on the Senate floor yesterday to call for swift passage of U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth’s (D-IL) resolution to allow senators with children to bring their infants who are 12 months and under onto the Senate floor during votes. Earlier this month, Duckworth became the first sitting U.S. senator to give birth, but current Senate rules prohibit children from being allowed on the Senate floor during votes. As Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee, Klobuchar and Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO) have been working to ensure the resolution moves quickly through the Committee and comes to the Senate floor for a vote.

“Senator Duckworth has made history in many ways, but she is the first sitting U.S. senator to give birth while in office. Some have pointed out that it is remarkable that it took so long to have a senator that gave birth while in office, and I think it does speak to the fact that while we’re a growing number of women in Congress, there are still not that many. We currently have 23 women senators, which is an all-time record—more than at any time in history—and we’re seeing record levels of women run for office. It is inevitable that in the future, more women will have kids during their time in the Senate. So in this way, we are simply anticipating what we see as the future, and it is up to us to make this a better workplace before they get here,” Klobuchar said in her speech.

“I think workplaces across America are making and have made those same kinds of adjustments and decisions… The truth is, too many American moms aren’t in positions of power to change the rules, which is why it is so important for those of us who are in position of power to be champions of change, not just here in the Senate but in workplaces across the country,” she continued.

Click here to download video of Senator Klobuchar speaking on the Senate floor: KLOB_FS_041718.mp4

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