House bill · 119th Congress · Latest step: Committee action
Words Matter Act of 2025
Official title: To amend Federal law to remove the terms "mentally retarded" and "mental retardation", and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Pete Sessions R-TXWhere it went
- IntroducedMay 15, 2025
- Committee actionMar 26, 2026
- Passed House—
- Passed Senate—
- To the President—
- Became law—
Latest action: Mar 26, 2026 — Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
Cost and committee reports
Official records Congress.gov attaches to H.R. 3420.
- CBO cost estimateThe Congressional Budget Office published “H.R. 3420, Words Matter Act of 2026” on May 27, 2026. CBO’s description reads “As ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on March 26, 2026”.Read the CBO estimate ↗Source: Congressional Budget Office, May 27, 2026 ↗
Evidence
- Field in the Congress.gov record
- cboCostEstimates
- CBO publication
- https://www.cbo.gov/publication/62479
- CBO publication date
- May 27, 2026
- Congress.gov bill record
- H.R. 3420, 119th Congress
- Congress.gov API record
- https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/119/hr/3420
- Record last updated by Congress.gov
- September 19, 2026
- PORKER copy retrieved
- September 24, 2026
- Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
be70a3d306cabd4e54f71fcfff13b1f3512ff6e7c9e579ff63aa9e3baaa96593
PORKER links to the estimate and does not repeat its dollar figures. Each estimate is for the version of the bill its description names; the bill may have changed since.
- Constitutional authority statementThe sponsor’s statement of where the Constitution gives Congress the power to pass this bill. Statement by Mr. SESSIONS, as printed in the Congressional Record (Vol. 171, No. 82, May 15, 2025, Page H2104):Article I, Section 8, Clause 18Source: Congress.gov, Congressional Record May 15, 2025 ↗
Evidence
- Field in the Congress.gov record
- constitutionalAuthorityStatementText
- Statement length
- 31 characters
- Congress.gov bill record
- H.R. 3420, 119th Congress
- Congress.gov API record
- https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/119/hr/3420
- Record last updated by Congress.gov
- September 19, 2026
- PORKER copy retrieved
- September 24, 2026
- Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
be70a3d306cabd4e54f71fcfff13b1f3512ff6e7c9e579ff63aa9e3baaa96593
PORKER shows the statement exactly as printed, with the page markup removed. It is the sponsor’s claim; it is not a legal finding.
Congress.gov’s record for this bill does not list a committee report (as of September 19, 2026). Not every bill gets one.
From the Congress.gov bill record for H.R. 3420, last updated September 19, 2026. PORKER’s copy was retrieved September 24, 2026 and is refreshed nightly. Open “Evidence” on any line for the record, field and file fingerprint.
Vote results
No recorded roll-call votes on this bill in PORKER’s records (voice votes and unanimous consent are not roll calls; roll-call records start in 2011).
Cosponsors
15 cosponsors — 10 Republicans, 5 Democrats
5 of 15 cosponsors (33%) are from the other party.
Brian Babin (R-TX), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Erin Houchin (R-IN), Richard Hudson (R-NC), Julia Letlow (R-LA), Tracey Mann (R-KS), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Eleanor Norton (D-DC), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Eric Sorensen (D-IL), Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), Eugene Vindman (D-VA), Randy Weber (R-TX), Ryan Zinke (R-MT).
More from the sponsor
Other 119th Congress bills sponsored by Rep. Pete Sessions.
- H.R. 5125 (119th) District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Reform Act of 2025
- H.R. 8312 (119th) Fraud Prevention and Accountability Act
- H.R. 2277 (119th) FACT Act
- H.R. 8290 (119th) China Exchange Rate Accountability Act of 2026
- H.R. 1175 (119th) Blind Americans Return to Work Act of 2025
- H.R. 4863 (119th) Fairness for Khobar Act of 2025
Sponsor’s state and district
Data as of Sep 24, 2026 · bill record checked by PORKER from Congress.gov · votes from Senate.gov and the House Clerk. PORKER is non-partisan.