Just 10 days after becoming the first Senator to give birth while in office, Tammy Duckworth made history again last night when she introduced a rule change that would allow children (like her newborn daughter Maile Pearl Bowlsbey) under one year of age on the Senate floor. Senators are also now allowed to breastfeed during votes if necessary, ensuring that they would not have to choose between caring for their child and doing their jobs.
In a statement thanking her colleagues, Duckworth said: “By ensuring that no Senator will be prevented from performing their constitutional responsibilities simply because they have a young child, the Senate is leading by example and sending the important message that working parents everywhere deserve family-friendly workplace policies. These policies aren’t just a women’s issue, they are a common-sense economic issue.” According to CNN, Duckworth had been working behind the scenes for some time on the matter and the last time additional floor privileges were granted was in 1977, allowing service dogs on the floor.
Though the change passed with unanimous consent, Senator Amy Klobacher (D—Minn.) told CNN, “It’s been quite a journey.” Apparently some lawmakers raised questions like whether diapers would be changed on the floor or whether there would be a dress code for babies. She continued, “The Senate is steeped in tradition and just like the rest of the country, sometimes things have to change.”
Dick Durbin, the senior Senator from Duckworth’s home state of Illinois said of the change, “I think it will do us good in the United States Senate, every once in a while to see a pacifier next to the antique ink wells on our desks.” He continued, “Perhaps the cry of a baby will shock the Senate at times into speaking out and even crying out on the issues that confront our nation and the world.”