Marge Roukema was an eleven term congresswoman from New Jersey. She died on Wednesday at the age of 85. She is one of the little known but most significant figures in labor and employment law.
As a Republican member of Congress, she defied her party in the 1980s and became a driving force behind the Family Medical Leave Act. The FMLA provides unpaid leave for qualified employees if either the employee or certain family members have a serious health condition. Ms. Roukema was motivated by the loss of her son, Todd, to leukemia. Based on her experience with her deceased son, she believed that employees should not have to choose between losing their job and neglecting their family’s welfare.
As the legislation passed Congress, Roukema urged then-President George H. W. Bush not to veto the bill. In an Op-Ed, she wrote, “As society has changed, we have always adjusted our labor protection standards to meet the new circumstances.” President Bush vetoed the bill, however, on June 29, 1990.
Less than three years later, Congress again passed the FMLA. It became the first piece of legislation signed into law by President Clinton. American workers have been better off as a result.