On 20th Anniversary Of The Family Medical Leave Act, Meet The Republican Men Who Voted Against It

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Twenty years ago today, President Bill Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The law, which passed with bipartisan support, gave workers new job protections in the event of a pregnancy or family medical emergency, mandating 12 weeks of unpaid leave. And while FMLA has failed to cover all workers — only employers with more than 50 workers are bound by the law, for instance, and as many as 40 percent of the workforce remains ineligible for FMLA protections — the FMLA has helped millions of women keep their jobs while caring for their newborn child.
And yet in 1993, 163 congressmen in the House voted against the bill. Twenty years later, 19 of those nay votes remain in the House of Representatives, and all of them have a few things in common — namely, their gender and their race:

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/02/05/1540251/fmla-republicans/

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1. Ralph Hall is my representative.

He was a Democrat twenty years ago-albeit a so-called "Reagan" Democrat. He changed parties about eight or nine years ago when it became expedient for him to do so. He is essentially worthless.

[Recursion]

2. I was a page that term. I remember that vote.

Though I'm appalled to think it was 20 years ago. One of those all-night sessions with a 4am vote. Rostenkowski had to remind Jamie Whitten which way he was voting.

[octoberlib]

3. Ol' Jamie Whitten. Being a page during that time must have been very interesting. nt