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Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) released a video message today promoting the Economic Security for New Parents Act, which he unveiled with Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO) last week.
 
The legislation creates an option for new parents to pull forward a portion of their Social Security to use for paid parental leave after the birth or adoption of a child. Last week, Rubio also discussed the Economic Security for New Parents Act on CBS This Morning. Rubio and Wagner recently penned an op-ed outlining their plan. Last month, Rubio’s office released a video highlighting his efforts to help working American families by expanding the Child Tax Credit and offering a conservative solution for paid family leave.
 
A transcript of the video is below:
 
A healthy America is marked by the spirit of our youth. It is true and it will always be true. The heart and the soul of our nation is in our young people fighting for new and innovative ideas that apply the principles of conservatism to the challenges of the 21st century: like our successful effort to expand the child tax credit or allowing new parents to use their Social Security benefits for paid family leave if their employer does not provide it.  
 
Marco Rubio will introduce a bill today to help parents get paid family leave. It’s called the Economic Security for New Parents Act. This does not expand the size of government but it’s a way of targeting aid to those families who need it most.
 
It allows new parents to be able to afford taking leave from work by giving them the option to basically pull forward a small portion of their future Social Security benefits. It will allow all new parents to take two or three months or more of paid parental leave at levels that in some cases will be at 70 or even 80 percent of their regular income.
 
We need to do everything we can to help our children. I don’t think that’s an issue that has a left or a right. All Americans want their children to have a better future and there is nothing that is better for children than to have parents who are involved in their lives. And that is especially true in the early weeks of their lives.
 
Right now, for millions of children who are born into working families, that isn’t what’s happening. It is hurting our children to have parents who can’t afford to be with them after they’re born. And the overwhelming majority of parents, 85%, at least, do not get paid because of a newborn child. This plan does not grow government, it doesn’t threaten the stability of Social Security, it doesn’t raise taxes on a single American. A plan that gives millions of Americans an option that allows them to spend more time with their newborn child without having to face financial catastrophe.
 
The future of our liberty and of our prosperity is not destined to just happen on its own. But it’s also not destined to decline. Our tomorrow, your tomorrow will largely be shaped by what we do and by what we failed to do. Parents should be able to use their own money to help start and raise a family.