Mother's Day And State Department Leave Policy For New Parents

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the proud parents of the State Department. We honor and thank each of you for the sacrifices you have made in order to serve our country while raising your family. 

Hillary Rodham Clinton message to all Mothers
I know how challenging it can be to balance the demands of work and family. Whether you're welcoming a new baby, juggling soccer practice and piano lessons, or even helping plan your daughter's wedding - parenting can be more than a full time job.

So today I’m recommitting the State Department to do all we can to support parents, especially new mothers and fathers. We will continue to do all we can to advance paid sick leave to new mothers recuperating from childbirth, family members caring for the mother, as well as those caring for a newborn with a serious ailment or disability, and the employees that are in the process of the adoption efforts that I know can be so difficult.

We will do all we can to support requests for advanced annual leave to care for and bond with a newborn or newly adopted child. Many of you have been taking these steps for years on your own, but I want to encourage all of you to ask for and grant this time - time that I hope will help make you and your families healthier and happier.

We can and should do more to provide public servants with the same maternity and paternity leave benefits that many private sector employers already offer. They’re standard for many other governments around the world. It’s not enough to just talk about the importance of family - our policies must reflect our commitment and our values.

This is something I have worked for over my entire career and I am proud that President Obama shares this goal. And while we work with Congress to take additional steps - steps that are overdue - the State Department will do what we can for you and your families.

Together we are working all over the globe to ensure that children have the health, support and the chance to live up to their God-given potential. Well of course we want the same thing for all the children in the State Department family as well, from Washington to our posts around the world. We say it all the time, but boy we sure do believe it and are reminded of it every day - they are our most precious resource and responsibility.

So once again, thank you to all the parents and I wish all of you a safe and happy Mother’s Day.

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I know how challenging it can be to balance the demands of work and family. Whether you're welcoming a new baby, juggling soccer practice and piano lessons, or even helping plan your daughter's wedding - parenting can be more than a full time job.

So today I’m recommitting the State Department to do all we can to support parents, especially new mothers and fathers. We will continue to do all we can to advance paid sick leave to new mothers recuperating from childbirth, family members caring for the mother, as well as those caring for a newborn with a serious ailment or disability, and the employees that are in the process of the adoption efforts that I know can be so difficult.

We will do all we can to support requests for advanced annual leave to care for and bond with a newborn or newly adopted child. Many of you have been taking these steps for years on your own, but I want to encourage all of you to ask for and grant this time - time that I hope will help make you and your families healthier and happier.

We can and should do more to provide public servants with the same maternity and paternity leave benefits that many private sector employers already offer. They’re standard for many other governments around the world. It’s not enough to just talk about the importance of family - our policies must reflect our commitment and our values.

This is something I have worked for over my entire career and I am proud that President Obama shares this goal. And while we work with Congress to take additional steps - steps that are overdue - the State Department will do what we can for you and your families.

Together we are working all over the globe to ensure that children have the health, support and the chance to live up to their God-given potential. Well of course we want the same thing for all the children in the State Department family as well, from Washington to our posts around the world. We say it all the time, but boy we sure do believe it and are reminded of it every day - they are our most precious resource and responsibility.

So once again, thank you to all the parents and I wish all of you a safe and happy Mother’s Day.

###

What is National Women's Health Week? 

 NWHW starts in 2 days! 
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 National Women’s Health Week is a weeklong health observance coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health (OWH). National Women’s Health Week empowers women to make their health a top priority. With the theme “It’s Your Time,” the nationwide initiative encourages women to take simple steps for a longer, healthier, and happier life. During National Women’s Health Week, communities, businesses, government, health organizations, and other groups work together to educate women about steps they can take to improve their physical and mental health and lower their risks of certain diseases. Important steps include:

• Getting at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity, or a combination of both each week
• Eating a nutritious diet
• Visiting a health care professional to receive regular checkups and preventive screenings
• Avoiding risky behaviors, such as smoking and not wearing a seatbelt
• Paying attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress

 Quick Links

• Send a free e-card.
• Find events in your area.
• Take the National Women's Checkup Day Pledge!
• Join the Woman Challenge!
• View all proclamations.
• Use our interactive screening chart and immunization tool to learn about the tests and vaccines you may need!

Republican Derivatives Amendment Would Not Bring Transparency To The Market

One of the more contentious parts of the financial regulatory reform debate currently occurring on the Senate floor is over derivatives regulation, after Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) surprised many people by offering legislation that not only brings derivatives out of the dark, but would force commercial banks to place their derivatives trading operations under a separate roof that is independently capitalized.
Currently, a lot of derivatives trading occurs “over-the counter,” meaning it’s between two parties, without public information. Lincoln’s bill would place all standardized derivatives trades onto public exchanges (like the stock exchange), so that both investors and regulators can see what is going on in the market. It would also employ clearinghouses to act as the middlemen between trades, ensuring that both parties have sufficient collateral on hand should the deal go bust.
This approach would help to avoid another AIG-type situation, in which a party is making derivatives trades with nothing to back them up. Republicans, however, are not happy with Lincoln’s legislation. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), along with Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Richard Shelby (R-AL), have crafted an amendment that not only gets rid of the exchange trading mandate entirely, but gives regulators vast discretion to exempt trades from going through clearinghouses:

The 218-page Republican amendment differs from the Democratic bill by exempting more end users from requirements to send trades through clearinghouses. It would let regulators decide which derivatives would need to pass through clearinghouses…Unlike the Democratic bill, it would not mandate exchange trading for swaps.

According to Shelby, the bill will simply stipulate that “transactions will be ‘made known’ to regulators,” whatever that means.
At its core, the amendment is an attempt to leave the derivatives market as is: opaque, with a lack of information for investors looking for fair prices and regulators looking to enforce the rules. As the Roosevelt Institute’s Mike Konczal wrote, “the first axis by which to judge the financial reform of derivatives is to what degee derivatives are required to trade in clearinghouses…The second axis measures to what degree derivatives are required to trade in exchanges.” The GOP plan fails on both measures.
When it comes to complex financial instruments, the more information that investors and regulators have, the better the market is. The wide use of exchanges and clearinghouses will drive down prices, increase competition, and prevent the huge derivatives market from building up systemic risk.
Even former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson feels this way, telling the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission today that derivatives should be standardized and put on exchanges, and anything that is not standardized should have onerous capital requirements. “Such regulations will encourage standardization, promote transparency, and penalize excessive complexity with capital charges, thereby restoring these products to their proper function — mitigating, not enhancing, risk,” he said.