House bill · 119th Congress · Latest step: Introduced
Right to Representation Act
Official title: To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act, to require States to guarantee legal representation to children and parents involved in child protection proceedings, under the program of Federal payments for foster care, prevention, and permanency, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon D-PAWhere it went
- IntroducedMay 21, 2026
- Committee action—
- Passed House—
- Passed Senate—
- To the President—
- Became law—
Latest action: May 21, 2026 — Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Cost and committee reports
Official records Congress.gov attaches to H.R. 8997.
- Constitutional authority statementThe sponsor’s statement of where the Constitution gives Congress the power to pass this bill. Statement by Ms. SCANLON, as printed in the Congressional Record (Vol. 172, No. 87, May 21, 2026, Page H3726):Article 1 Section 8Source: Congress.gov, Congressional Record May 21, 2026 ↗
Evidence
- Field in the Congress.gov record
- constitutionalAuthorityStatementText
- Statement length
- 19 characters
- Congress.gov bill record
- H.R. 8997, 119th Congress
- Congress.gov API record
- https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/119/hr/8997
- Record last updated by Congress.gov
- June 25, 2026
- PORKER copy retrieved
- September 13, 2026
- Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
bbd38bbe4bac6ff8cc1f80b43cda3493293f10c91fb50353a5d7ead6c8dbc159
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 CBO cost estimate or a committee report (as of June 25, 2026). Not every bill gets one.
From the Congress.gov bill record for H.R. 8997, last updated June 25, 2026. PORKER’s copy was retrieved September 13, 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
No cosponsors.
More from the sponsor
Other 119th Congress bills sponsored by Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon.
- H.R. 1269 (119th) Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act of 2025
- H.J.Res. 121 (119th) Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to contributions and expenditures intended to affect elections.
- H.Res. 160 (119th) Recognizing January 2025 as "National Mentoring Month".
- H.Res. 1047 (119th) Recognizing January 2026 as "National Mentoring Month".
- H.R. 4769 (119th) Foster Youth Mentoring Act of 2025
- H.R. 535 (119th) Inaugural Fund Integrity Act
Sponsor’s state and district
Data as of Sep 25, 2026 · bill record checked by PORKER from Congress.gov · votes from Senate.gov and the House Clerk. PORKER is non-partisan.