,i  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #fef  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of   
,,representatives  ,january #bc1        
#bjbe,mrs4 ,bice 7for herself and ,ms4  
,houlahan7 introduced the following     
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,armed ,services  ,a      
,,bill  ,to improve parental leave for  
members of the ,armed ,forces4  #a4     
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,protecting ,military ,parental     
,leave ,evaluations ,act4  #b4 ,improved
 parental leave for members of the      
,armed ,forces  7a7 ,findings ,congress 
finds the following3  7#a7 ,in ,december
 #bjbb1 ,congress expanded the paid     
parental leave for members of the ,armed
 ,forces to #ab weeks during the #ab    
months after the birth or adoption of a 
child of the member and in order to care
 for such child or the placement of a   
minor child with the member for adoption
 or long-term foster care 7#aj ,u4,s4,c4
 #gja7;h77#a77;,a774  7#b7 ,the         
expansion of parental leave raises      

concerns that members who take such     
leave may receive lower evaluations     
compared to those who do not4  7#c7     
,there is currently no provision to     
exempt members from evaluations due to  
parental leave1 potentially deterring   
eligible members from taking this leave4
  7#d7 ,each ,secretary of a military   
department has been given authority to  
implement the leave policies but have   
not provided explicit guidance on how to
 characterize such leave for the        
purposes of evaluations4  7#e7 ,all     
,armed ,forces have non-rated codes or  
not observed evaluations to exempt      
members from evaluations during periods 
where their performance is not observed1
 but these do not align across the      
,armed ,forces and do not specifically  
apply to parental leave4  7#f7 ,members 
who are parents face unique hardships1  
and the #ab weeks of paid family leave  
for both mothers and fathers1 for birth 
and adoption1 is designed to balance the
 care needs of their children with the  

demands of their unit4  7#g7 ,excessive 
paperwork required to extend the use of 
the #ab weeks of military family leave  
beyond one year additionally burdens    
members and decreases flexibility4  7b7 
,requirements ,not later than #ahj days 
after the date of the enactment of this 
,act1 the ,secretary of ,defense shall--
  7#a7 prescribe regulations-- 7,a7 that
 exempt a member of the ,armed ,forces  
who is taking parental leave1 under     
subparagraph 7,a7 of paragraph 7#a7 of  
section #gja7;h7 of title #aj1 ,united  
,states ,code1 that exceeds #ca         
consecutive days1 from a performance    
evaluation2 and  7,b7 under subparagraph
 7,b7 of such paragraph1 to authorize a 
member to take leave under such section 
during the two-year period beginning on 
the birth1 adoption1 or placement       
described in such paragraph without     
having to request a waiver from the     
,secretary concerned2 and  7#b7 submit  
to the ,committees on ,armed ,forces of 
the ,senate and ,house of               

,representatives a report regarding the 
implementation of this section4