House passes bill requiring baby changing stations in federal buildings

The House approved legislation on Wednesday to require male and female restrooms in federal buildings to be equipped with baby changing stations.

Passed easily by a vote of 389-34, the measure would only apply to restrooms in federal buildings that are open to the public. All of the votes in opposition were from Republicans.

Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), the bill’s author, gave an example of the federal building where his office is located that doesn’t have any baby changing tables. Constituents who visit his office with children are left with the options of changing their babies’ diapers on the bathroom floor or find another public building that’s more accommodating.

{mosads}“Federal public buildings belong to the people of this country, and they should be welcoming and appropriately accommodating,” Cicilline said during floor debate. No one spoke in opposition.

Establishing a federal statute would follow efforts by some states and localities nationwide to require baby changing stations in public restrooms, such as in San Francisco and Florida’s Miami-Dade County.

Wednesday’s vote was part of a batch of roll calls forced by Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) on more than a dozen noncontroversial bills. Huelskamp expressed concern on Tuesday that GOP leaders had scheduled consideration of 49 bills considered under a fast-track process known as suspension of the rules.

Many of those measures typically pass by voice vote, but Huelskamp’s spokesman said that “Americans at least deserve the transparency of knowing how their Member of Congress votes on these bills.”