Senators voted Thursday on 15 amendments to the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package, with five key measures approved before it was sent to the House, The Hill reported.
Lawmakers approved two measures seeking to protect pregnant mothers in the workplace, the Pregnant Fairness Workers Act and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act.
The first requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant women in the workforce, and the second creates specific protections for women who need to breastfeed on the job.
Under the measures, pregnant women in the workforce would be permitted additional bathroom breaks, allowed to sit while working a cash register, and have the required weight they need to lift decreased.
"Employers can no longer treat pregnant workers like they are expendable once they find out they are expecting a child or need a modest accommodation to prevent serious health complications," Dina Bakst, co-founder of A Better Balance, told Axios.
Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey's Fairness for 9/11 Families Act was also added to the docket, allowing previously-excluded groups of terrorism victims to access a compensation fund.
The act, which passed 93-4-3, allows direct families of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, victims of the 1983 Beirut bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks, and the 1996 Khobar, Saudi Arabia, attack on the city's U.S. Air Force barracks, to access the fund.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina's amendment to authorize the transfer of the proceeds of forfeited property to Ukraine was further approved by the Senate in a voice vote.
The amendment allows the Treasury and State Departments to aid the Ukraine war effort by transferring to the country money gained from confiscated assets of those who violated sanction restrictions.
Another provision, continuing the U.S. Navy's pay and benefits of Lt. Ridge Alkonis, also passed. Alkonis had his pay cut after serving a three-year sentence in a Japanese prison for killing two civilians in a car accident.
However, naval investigators later determined the lieutenant suffered from acute mountain sickness, causing him to lose consciousness behind the wheel, Deseret News noted.
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