Sen. Tammy Duckworth could be the first woman allowed to bring her newborn onto the Senate floor while the chamber is in session, if her resolution to allow children under a year old onto the Senate floor is approved, Vanity Fair noted.
If the vote goes through, it is likely that the Illinois Democrat, who became the first U.S. senator to give birth while in office, would also become the first to bring her baby to the Senate floor.
Duckworth, a 50-year-old veteran who lost her legs in the Iraq War, delivered her second daughter, Maile (MY-lee) Pearl Bowlsbey, earlier this month.
She has been determined to change the Senate rules after learning that they would require her to breastfeed her baby in a bathroom off the Senate floor, according to Newsweek.
She has taken issue with two particular rules which exclude family members from the list of people admitted to the Senate floor and require senators to be present to vote.
"I can't be away from a newborn infant in the first three months for that long," Duckworth told Politico.
She planned to take unofficial maternity leave, coming to the Senate to vote when needed and bringing her infant with her, and drafted the proposal to allow her to do so.
Duckworth's chief of staff, Kaitlin Fahey, told The Hill that the senator is "glad to be able to offer this legislation to ensure no senator with an infant is prevented from performing their constitutional responsibilities—and send a message that working parents everywhere deserve family-friendly workplace policies."
Members on the House Rules Committee are expected to move the measure forward, which will then go before the full Senate for approval. Sources told Politico that Senate leaders appear poised to approve the request.
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