record -- the chair: the gentlelady has to make her request in general debate. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. the amendment -- mr. issa: on that, i request the yeas and nays. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceed option the amendment offered by the gentleman from cave will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 2 printed in house report 111-133. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. green: i have an amendment at the . the chair: clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 2 printed in house report 111-133 offered by mr. al green of tick. the chair: pursuant to house resolution, mr. al green and a member opposed will each control 2005 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas.

mr. green: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. thank you. madam speaker, this bill allows o.p.m., that's the office of personnel management, to increase the amount of paid parental leave up to eight weeks . it allows this after considering a variety of factors. benefits to the federal government, cost to the federal government, trenleds in the private sector, -- trends in the private sector, the government's role as a model employer and such other factors. as a director considers necessary. this amendment, mo dam chair, will -- madam chair, will require the office of personnel management to consider the needs of some of our lower level

employees. this amendment would not require any additional funding. it merely requires the office to consider the impact that this -- that increasing the number of weeks will have on some of our lower level employees. now, i'd like to introduce a term that i'm not exceedingly pleased with. it is called poverty spell. a poverty spell. a poverty spell is defined as entering poverty for at least two months. 25% of all poverty spells begin with the birth of a child. 25%. i would also note that 78% of the persons who are eligible for f.m.a., this leave that we've been discussing today, do not

take it because they cannot afford to lose a paycheck. no one should go into poverty because of the birth of a child if we can prevent it. this bill will help many of our lower level employees avoid a poverty spell. ly reserve the balance of my time. conscious -- i will reserve the balance of my time. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> madam speaker, because there is no objection to this commonsense evaluation, as lot low income and economically disadvantaged, we would not claim -- we claim in opposition and yield back immediately. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. green: yes, madam speaker, i will yield to the manager such time as he may consume. >> i -- mr. lynch: i want to thank the gentleman for his thoughtful and improved amendment and we are prepared to accept it at this time. i yield back. the chair: does the gentleman from texas -- mr. green: at this time, madam

speaker, i am grateful to mr. lynch. i'm also grasme to mrs. maloney for her -- grateful to mrs. maloney for her outstanding work on this. i'm honored that they are accepting this amendment and i am going to ask all of my colleagues to please vote for it , if a recorded vote is called for. i shall not be calling for one. thank you and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. it is now in order to consider amendment number 3 printed in house report 111-133. for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama rise? mr. bright: thank you, madam speaker. i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 3 printed in house report 111-133 offered by mr. bright of alabama. the speaker pro tempore:

pursuant to house resolution 501, the gentleman from alabama, mr. bright, and a member opposed will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from alabama. mr. bright: madam chair, i yield myself such time as i consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. bright: i rise today in support of my amendment to the federal employees pay parental leave act. put simply, this amendment would ensure that federal employees called to active duty and the national guard or reserves are not penalized for their service. it would clarify the intent of the bill so that these individuals can count the time they serve in active duty towards the time they are employed so they may remain eligible for the benefits under this bill. too often we have seen our service men and women across all branches denied the benefits they rightly deserve due to governmental red tape. there is absolutely no reason that national guard or reservists should be denied any of the benefits they deserve after honorably serving their country.

again, this amendment will allow members of the guard and reserve to be able to count the time they were deployed towards their total time of employment. if passed, this amendment will give the men and women who have served our country needed time with their newborns and tend to their family responsibilities after a birth. this time is even more important when you consider that these warriors have always spent months on end away from their families. madam chair, this amendment is simple and straight forward, it clarifies the intent of the bill for our guardsmen and our guardswomen and our reservists and err sures they won't be penalizeded for -- ensures they won't be penalized for their service to our country. i urge this and reserve the balance of my time. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. issa: also we -- although we do not object to this we would claim the time in opposition. briefly, this amendment seems to be a good one that would try to

clarify some of the many, many, many, many elements of this bill that were not worked through thoroughly in committee. so i applaud the gentleman, i believe that in fact if we would have done more of this in committee, if more people would have looked and said, we want as the committee that is charged by the congress to fight waste, fraud and abuse, that in fact if we had tightened up this bill much better earlier, we would have been more accountability to the taxpayers. so i applaud -- accountable to the taxpayers. i applaud the gentleman, vote that it be voted positively and yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from alabama. mr. bright: i yield one minute of my time to mr. lynch. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lynch: i thank the gentleman for yield and thank the gentleman from alabama for his thoughtful amendment. this amendment makes certain that federal employees who are members of the national guard or reserve will remain eligible for this benefit and be able to care for their newborn children in the same manner as all other employees.

i thank the gentleman for his astute objections and his -- observations and his clarification and i urge members to support this amendment and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from alabama. mr. bright: madam chair in closing i'd like to thank congress lady maloney from new york, thank you very much for your hard work on this, and also chairman towns and his staff on the oversight and government reform committee for their attention to this issue and for working with my staff to draft this amendment. i would like to also thank the chairwoman slaughter in the rules committee for ruling in favor of the amendment and allowing me to offer it on the floor today. finally i want to thank my colleagues for their continued support and commitment on this issue and again i urge all my colleagues to support this amendment and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the question now occurs on the amendment offered by the gentleman from alabama. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.