The elder statesmen work in the upper chamber of Congress where a certain level of decorum and civility is expected. Crying, whining, and temper tantrums should never be tolerated on the Senate floor. But I’m with Jeryl Bier: Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s newborn baby deserves a pass.
Duckworth made history last week when she was the first to become a mom while a senator. Now that Illinois Democrat wants to bring her kid to work and Republicans, specifically senators who describe themselves as pro-life conservatives, have to give their support.
Current rules keep children off the floor until their first birthday. But that presents an obvious problem. “I can’t be away from a newborn infant in the first three months for that long,” Duckworth told Politico before little Maile Pearl Bowlsbey arrived on April 9th.
While mother and child are happy and healthy, childcare logistics are a bit of a nightmare. Not only would the sergeant at arms block the baby at the door, Duckworth can’t hand her little one off to a staffer or risk violating ethics rules. To vote would require hiring a third-party childcare provider or organizing an impromptu babysitter’s club and deputizing fellow senators to hold the baby while she hurried onto the floor and quickly voted.
But Duckworth has filed a resolution to make the Senate more family-friendly.
“Senator Duckworth 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,” the senator’s chief of staff said in a statement. “She is optimistic that this will be resolved quickly.”
The Rules Committee is expected to change the requirements with the support of committee chairman Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. Any rule change would require the unanimous support of the Senate. Any senator who dissents would run into one of Washington’s most influential bipartisan lobbies.
While Duckworth is pro-abortion, the pro-life lobby has quickly rallied to her side. Before the baby arrived, groups like the March for Life and Americans United for Life were already lobbying for the rule change.
“We absolutely support that,” said National Right to Life spokeswoman Tatiana Bergum in a response that would be repeated by prominent national abortion opponents.
“Policies ought to reflect our life-affirming values, so reasonable accommodations should always be made for new mothers — including those who are also senators,” March for Life President Jeanne Mancini told me in March, before adding she hopes that Duckworth will be applauded and will “inspire more expectant mothers to do the same.”
The senators in the upper chamber need to stop their bickering long enough to do exactly that. They ought to help Duckworth be both a mom and a senator. Babies, after all, should be bipartisan.
