
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 10, 1990                   TAG: 9005100265
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

FAMILY LEAVE BACKERS SAY BUSH RENEGED

Supporters of a bill guaranteeing unpaid time off for workers in family emergencies cited President Bush's own 1988 campaign rhetoric Wednesday, saying he supported provisions in an election year that he now threatens to veto.

The House began debating the family and medical leave bill, with a vote scheduled for today.

Rep. Bill Green, R-N.Y., a liberal Republican who supports the bill, quoted Bush from a September 1988 campaign appearance in which he said the presidential candidate seemed to be supporting just such a measure.

Bush's press secretary Marlin Fitzwater said a day earlier that Bush would veto the bill if passed, and that while Bush urged employers to offer guaranteed job-protected leave, he opposed any bill requiring periods of leave.

The bill would require businesses with 50 or more employees to offer unpaid time off for the care of newborn, newly adopted or seriously ill children, as well as to deal with personal health problems or ill spouses or parents.

- Associated Press

by CNB