# 119-hr-3997: Protecting Children Act

119-hr-3997, Protecting Children Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Scott, Robert C. "Bobby" [D-VA-3] (D-VA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3997
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-3997
- Congress: 119
- Title: Protecting Children Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-06-12
- Sponsor: Rep. Scott, Robert C. "Bobby" [D-VA-3] (D-VA)
- Cosponsors: 8
- Policy area: Labor and Employment
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Strengthens enforcement against oppressive child labor** by raising civil and criminal penalties and creating a Treasury fund to support enforcement and young-worker safety. It also tightens rulemaking, data reporting, and research to better detect and prevent hazardous work for children. - Children and families: Harmed youth get a new private right of action to sue employers and may recover compensatory and punitive damages. - Workers and employers: Civil fines can reach as high as $700,000 for certain violations and corporate criminal fines can reach $10,000,000 per violation for death-related offenses. - Government, enforcement, and researchers: Establishes the Child Labor and Safety and Health Fund financed by penalties to pay for investigations, enforcement, training, and research, and requires new government-wide child-labor statistics and annual, age-disaggregated reports.

## Cosponsors (8)

- Rep. Omar, Ilhan [D-MN-5] (D-MN), 2025-06-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1] (D-OR), 2025-06-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McGarvey, Morgan [D-KY-3] (D-KY), 2025-06-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Deluzio, Christopher R. [D-PA-17] (D-PA), 2025-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Carter, Troy A. [D-LA-2] (D-LA), 2025-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Adams, Alma S. [D-NC-12] (D-NC), 2025-06-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2025-06-27T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Hayes, Jahana [D-CT-5] (D-CT), 2025-07-16T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Higher safety and child-labor penalties: benefit, high. If enacted, employers would face much higher fines and tougher jail terms for unsafe work and child labor. OSHA civil fine caps would jump (for example, a $70,000 cap would become $700,000), and fines must consider money saved by breaking rules and past violations. Fines could be doubled for seriou…
- New right to sue over child labor: benefit, medium. If an employer breaks child labor rules and a child is harmed, the child or guardian could sue for money. Claims could seek both compensatory and punitive damages. This would apply to violations of section 12 that cause harm. It would start 60 days after enactment.
- New fund, data, and training on child labor: benefit, medium. This bill would create a Treasury fund for child labor and young worker safety, paid by certain civil penalties. Money could move to Labor and be spent without yearly limits on investigations, training, victim support, and research. Labor would build a child employment data program with yearly repo…
- Stronger rules for hazardous teen jobs: benefit, medium. The Labor Department would tighten how it sets hazardous job bans for teens. It would use precaution for dangerous exposures, consult health experts, and post proposals for 60 days of public comment (extendable up to 120 days). If HHS/NIOSH sends criteria, the Secretary would act within 180 days or…
- New court path to challenge labor rules: mixed, low. People affected by a new rule could ask a U.S. court of appeals to review it. They could file where they live, where their main business is, or in the D.C. Circuit. Petitions must be filed within 60 days of the Federal Register notice, and filing would not pause the rule. These cases would not get…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-3069: Medicare for All Act
- 119-hr-7853: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-hr-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act
- 119-hr-20: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-3997 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3997)

## Related
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-3069: Medicare for All Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3069)
- [119-hr-7853: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7853)
- [119-hr-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-51)
- [119-hr-20: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-20)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3997 (as of 2026-04-21).