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Dole Campaign Press Release - Dole "Fast Facts" About the Family and Medical Leave Act

September 10, 1996

Just last weekend, Bob Dole said: "I believe in compassionate leave if there is a birth or a death or there is something that happens in the family, obviously." No one disputes that family and medical leave programs are a great idea. The issue is whether it should be a federal mandate or a state, local, and voluntary initiative. As Dole himself said: "It ought to be left to the employees, or the state or the county -- the federal government ought to be out of it."

FACT TWO: Bob Dole does not believe the federal government should saddle employers with costly and burdensome mandates Bob Dole supports the concept behind the Family and Medical Leave Act -- that families should be given time off for medical or other emergencies. He does not believe, however, that the government should force companies to establish a benefit policy designed by federal bureaucrats. "One-size-fits-all" government mandates often end up hurting the very people they were designed to help -- increasing employers' costs, forcing them to cut other needed benefit programs, and limiting options and flexibility for employees.

FACT THREE: Bob Dole introduced and supported an alternative bill that used tax incentives to encourage companies to voluntarily provide family and medical leave

As Bob Dole said when he introduced his alternative bill in 1993, "not only do we care about working families, but we also care enough not to saddle employers with costly mandates which would put mothers and fathers out of work. Instead our legislation provides for refundable tax credits for businesses with fewer than 500 employees that provide up to twelve weeks of family leave. Rather than ... a 'one-size-fits-all' government mandate, we should trust employers and employees to work out the type of parental leave plan which best fits their circumstances."

ON FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE, THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN SHOULD STICK TO THE FACTS

Robert Dole, Dole Campaign Press Release - Dole "Fast Facts" About the Family and Medical Leave Act Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/315385

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