Media

Katy Tur says it is ‘shameful’ that Congress hasn’t passed new family leave law

by Joe Concha - 09/11/19 5:38 PM ET

MSNBC anchor Katy Tur pressed lawmakers as well as Ivanka Trump to work on passing equal paid time off for both parents during family leave, calling it “shameful” the proposal “hasn’t even gotten a vote.”

Tur’s comments came during her first day back on the network after giving birth to her son in April.

{mosads}”Parents need time with their babies. Babies need time with their parents. And moms need support, and if that support is coming from a partner, that partner should get equal time off, paid time off, emphasis on paid,” said Tur during her afternoon MSNBC news program on Wednesday.

“Family leave supports babies, which supports us all,” she said.

“The people who work around here, who work in that building on the Hill behind me, talk about figuring it out,” she continued. “But for some reason, it still hasn’t gotten done. Hasn’t even gotten a vote. And that is shameful.”

“Many lawmakers want to come on to talk about it. If Ivanka Trump wants to come on to talk about it. I will have a seat waiting for them, or for her,” Tur said.

WATCH: On her first day back, @KatyTurNBC discusses becoming a new mother, her maternity leave and the importance of taking time off to be with family. https://t.co/oVfQQ6GN7I pic.twitter.com/SQ063WzcED

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 11, 2019

Tur, who once worked as a storm chaser for The Weather Channel, married CBS News correspondent Tony Dokoupil in 2017.

Paid family leave for both parents has been championed by President Trump’s daughter and White House adviser Ivanka Trump and was proposed by the president in his 2018 budget, but the initiative has stalled in Congress.

“The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world that does not provide new mothers with paid maternity leave,” Ivanka Trump said in September 2016. “My father’s policy will give paid leave to mothers whose employers are among the almost 90 percent of U.S. businesses that currently do not offer this benefit.”

Tags Donald Trump Ivanka Trump