# 119-hr-7002: Justice for Exploited Children Act

119-hr-7002, Justice for Exploited Children Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Scholten, Hillary J. [D-MI-3] (D-MI); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7002
- 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-7002
- Congress: 119
- Title: Justice for Exploited Children Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-01-09
- Sponsor: Rep. Scholten, Hillary J. [D-MI-3] (D-MI)
- Cosponsors: 9
- Policy area: Labor and Employment
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Strengthens criminal and civil penalties for child labor violations.** This bill would boost fines and prison terms and create mandatory penalties when minors suffer death or serious injury. - Children and families: The bill focuses on deterring dangerous child labor by increasing criminal penalties, including fines up to $500,000 and prison terms up to 10 years for willful or fatal violations. - Employers: Civil penalties become a tiered schedule applied per violation, typically $1,000–$150,000 and doubled for repeated or willful offenses. Death-related civil fines run $50,000–$601,150 per violation and are doubled for repeated or willful violations. - Regulators and courts: The bill requires mandatory application of certain death-related penalties, clarifies statutory cross-references, and makes penalties explicitly apply on a per-violation basis.

## Cosponsors (9)

- Rep. Mackenzie, Ryan [R-PA-7] (R-PA), 2026-01-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Goldman, Daniel S. [D-NY-10] (D-NY), 2026-01-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13] (D-MI), 2026-01-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Landsman, Greg [D-OH-1] (D-OH), 2026-01-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Krishnamoorthi, Raja [D-IL-8] (D-IL), 2026-01-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2026-01-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Titus, Dina [D-NV-1] (D-NV), 2026-01-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McGarvey, Morgan [D-KY-3] (D-KY), 2026-01-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA), 2026-04-02T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- New criminal penalties for child labor: cost, medium. If enacted, the bill would add criminal penalties for repeated or willful child labor violations. Conviction for a repeated or willful violation would carry a fine up to $100,000, or up to 5 years in prison, or both. A larger penalty would apply if the violation was willful and caused death or seri…
- Higher civil fines for child labor: cost, medium. If enacted, the bill would raise civil fines for violations of child labor rules. General fines would be $1,000 to $150,000 per violation. Those fines would be doubled for repeated or willful violations. A higher-tier fine would be $25,000 to $601,150 per violation and would apply as written in the…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act
- 119-hr-1065: Protect Our Letter Carriers Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-7002 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7002)

## Related
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4206)
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [119-hr-1065: Protect Our Letter Carriers Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1065)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7002 (as of 2026-04-21).