Clinton Proposes Paid Family Leave Program

Continuing her "women's week" on the campaign trail, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday proposed developing a paid family leave program and extending the current unpaid leave system to an additional 13 million workers.

"It's about time we stopped just talking about family values and started pursuing policies that truly value families," Clinton said during a campaign stop in New Hampshire. "All Americans who are working hard and taking responsibility deserve the chance to do right by their children."

Clinton's goal, she said, is to encourage states to create paid leave programs for new parents and other family caregivers by the year 2016. She would also broaden the existing Family and Medical Leave Act. The Republican National Committee - in a pattern becoming rapidly predictable - issued a statement accusing Clinton of potentially raising taxes by more than $750 million to pay for her proposal.

-- Anne E. Kornblut