Rep. McBride Calls on Congress to Make Paid Leave the “Law of the Land”

May 21, 2026 Press Release WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Delaware’s Congresswoman Sarah McBride (D-Del.) spoke to advocates from Paid Leave for All and the National Partnership for Women & Families at an event highlighting the success of paid family and medical leave laws across the nation. Rep. McBride has long championed paid family and medical leave for working families. In 2022, she passed the Healthy Delaware Families Act with bipartisan support in the Delaware General Assembly, providing paid family and medical leave to workers across the First State. She has since brought that fight to Congress where she is working to expand paid leave protections for families nationwide. Rep. McBride’s remarks as delivered are below. Video of her speech is here . We are all in this fight because we believe in a simple premise, that paid family and medical leave is about dignity, it's about security, and it's about making the American dream a reality for all working families. We all know paid family and medical leave is deeply personal. Every American will face a moment in their life when they have to care for themselves or a loved one. Whether it's the joyous challenges of welcoming a child into their family or the abject terror of a serious illness. The need is universal and the policy is personal. It's personal for my constituents and it's personal for me. When my husband Andy was diagnosed with cancer, from the first moments after he received that diagnosis — despite the fear, the terror, the anxiety — we both knew how lucky we were. We knew how lucky he was to have health insurance that would allow him to get care that would hopefully save his life. And we both understood how lucky we were to have flexibility with our jobs that allowed him to focus on the full-time job of getting care and me to focus on the full-time job of being his caregiver, of supporting him through chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, of loving him. And when we found out that his cancer was terminal, to be there by his side to marry him and to walk him to his passing. And I decided to run for office because up until his last breath, he knew how lucky he was. And we all understand that in the wealthiest, most developed nation on earth, that time and ability to get care should not be a matter of luck. It should be the law of the land. It's why I led the effort in the Delaware General Assembly to pass paid family and medical leave in the First State. It's why when I announced my campaign for Congress, I said that I would fight every single day to make paid family and medical leave a reality for all families in every corner of this country. And while paid leave remains my North Star, in just the last year and a half in Congress, I've been proud to work with advocates here to introduce two pieces of legislation to modernize FMLA so workers can use their leave in the way that works best for them. And now as the chair of the New Democrat Coalition's Care Economy Task Force, I'm proud to help lead the charge within our coalition to ensure that paid family and medical leave and care economy policies are front and center as we tackle the affordability crisis. I believe that paid family and medical leave has to be at the heart of a new majority's agenda come January 2027. Because we have in America a 1950s care infrastructure for a 2026 workforce. Paid leave is a necessary foundation for families and a bedrock of a modern economy. It is a win-win-win. It is pro-worker, it is pro-families, and it is pro-growth. And it's a benefit that should be bipartisan. Whether you're starting a family, supporting a loved one, or caring for yourself, we know the need is universal. Democrats, Independents, and Republicans overwhelmingly support this policy. And it is why it should overwhelmingly pass the United States Congress. But we build our work on the shoulders of so many giants. And I just want to say to Senator Boysko, thank you for your leadership. Eight years is a long time, but the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice because of legislators like you. So thank you for inspiring us. ###