Asyoureadthepassagebelow,considerhowKirstenGillibranduses

?evidence,suchasfactsorexamples,tosupportclaims.

?reasoningtodevelopideasandtoconnectclaimsandevidence.

?stylisticorpersuasiveelements,suchaswordchoiceorappealstoemotion,

toaddpowertotheideasexpressed.

AdaptedfromU.S.SenatorKirstenGillibrand"It’sTimeForPaidFamilyandMedicalLeavetoEmpowerWorkingWomenandModernizetheWorkplace".

1Twenty-oneyearsagotoday,PresidentClintonsignedintolawthelandmark

FamilyandMedicalLeaveAct(FMLA.)Passedwithstrongbipartisansupportin

bothhousesofCongress,FMLAprovidesupto12weeksofunpaidleaveinany

calendaryearforworkersatcompanieswith50employeesormoretocarefora

newborn,adoptedchildorsickparentorspouse.Inits21years,FMLAhasbeen

usedover100milliontimestoprovidejobsecurityformenandwomeninthe

workplaceandcontinuestodosotothisday..

2Butalothaschangedin21years.In2014,womennowmakeupalmost50%ofthe

workforceandsingleparentsaswellasdualincomefamiliesarefarmore

prevalenttoday,makingitmoreandmoredifficultforworkerstotakeunpaid

leave.Andtherealityis,becausewomenarefarmorelikelytobetheonetocare

forachildorelderlyrelative,thisburdenfallsdisproportionatelyontheshoulders

ofwomen,causingthemfartoooftentoleavetheworkforce,resultinginlossof

income,careeropportunitiesandretirementbenefitsthroughouttheirlifetime.In

fartoomanycases,unpaidleavemeansfamiliesmustfacethestarkchoice

betweenapaycheckandcaringforalovedone.Thisisnotachoiceanyfamily

shouldhavetomake.

3Hardworkingmenandwomendeservenotonlyjobsecurity,butalsoapaycheck

whentheyneedtotaketimeofftocareforalovedone.AsPresidentObamasaidin

hisStateoftheUnionaddresslastmonth,awoman“deservestohaveababy

withoutsacrificingherjob.Amotherdeservesadayofftotakecareofasickchild

orasickparentwithoutrunningintohardship.”WhichispreciselywhyI’ve

introducedtheFamilyandMedicalInsuranceLeaveAct(FAMILYAct)withRep.

RosaDeLaurotobegintomodernizetheworkplaceandfinallyimplementPaid

Family&MedicalLeaveforeveryU.S.worker.

4TheFAMILYActwouldallowuptothreemonthsofpaidleaveat66%ofone’sincome

fortheminimalcontribution—byemployeeandemployer—of,onaverage,less

thanthecostofacupofcoffeeaweek.Becauseit’sfundedbycontributionsby

employerandemployees,it’scompletelypaidforandwouldnotaddapennytothe

nation’sdebt.Andbecauseitisanearnedbenefitthatwouldbefacilitatedthoughthe

SocialSecurityAdministration,thebenefitswouldfollowyoufromjobtojoband

wouldapplytoeveryAmericanworker,whetherfullorpart-time.

5Becausewomenwoulddisproportionallybenefitfromthislegislation,PaidFMLA

isacentraltenetofmyOpportunityPlantoempowerworkingwomentostayin

theworkforceandpursueopportunitiesthatwillallowthemtocontributefullyto

theeconomicsecurityoftheirfamilies.WhenPresidentObamasaid“it’stimeto

doawaywithworkplacepoliciesthatbelongina‘MadMen’episode,”hemeant

it’stimetoraisetheminimumwage,timetofinallyachieveequalpay,timeto

implementuniversalPre-Kandtimetoprovidequalityaffordablechildcare.And

yes,it’stimetopasstheFAMILYActsowecanjointherestofthedeveloped

worldinprovidingpaidleavetoeveryoneofourworkers.

6Unfortunately,paidleaveisfacingsignificantoppositionfromsomebusinessinterests,

justasFMLAdid21yearsago.Backthen,opponentssaidFMLAwouldbebadfor

business,yetaccordingtoa1998survey,just5yearsafterthelawwasimplemented,

84%ofFMLAcompliantbusinessesreportedeithernocostsoractualcostsavingsas

aresultoftheirfamilyandmedicalleavepolicies.Andthatsameyear,88%of

AmericanswhoknewwhatFMLAwassupportedit.

7Nowin2014,we’refacingasimilarfightandjustasthen,I’mconfidentwewillprevail.

GotoOffTheSidelinesandheretolearnmore.TweetandFacebookyourfriends

aboutthisimportantissueusing#FAMILYAct.

8TheFAMILYActisacommonsensemeasurewhosetimehascometomodernizethe

workplacenotforitssimplicity,butforitsaudacity,notforitsultimategoalor

destination,butto“organizeandmeasurethebestofourenergiesandskills.”In

accomplishingthatgoal,NASAnotonlydefinedwhatwenowcall“rocket

science,”butalsomadealastingimprintontheeconomic,nationalsecurityand

geopoliticallandscapeofthetime.

WriteanessayinwhichyouexplainhowKirstenGiilibrandbuildsanargument

topersuadehisaudiencethattheUSgovernmentshouldadoptFAMILYACT.

Inyouressay,analyzehowGillibrandusesoneormoreofthefeatureslistedin

theboxabove(orfeaturesofyourownchoice)tostrengthenthelogica