Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon

“Every American is entitled to equal protection under the law.”
Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon

Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon shared the story behind her title with us on July 12, 2023.

Mary Gay is a life-long advocate for children and families. In November 2018, she was sworn into Congress following a special election victory – the first woman of the new wave of representation to be sworn in.

In her second full term in Congress, Mary Gay has continued her relentless advocacy on behalf of children and families in Pennsylvania’s 5th District and across the country. She was appointed, by her peers, to serve as Vice Chair of the prestigious House Judiciary Committee, and also serves on the House Rules Committee and the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. She is a member of dozens of important caucuses, including the Bipartisan Working Group on Addiction, the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, and the Equality Caucus.

Mary Gay has cosponsored over 400 bills to improve the lives of families in our region and across the country. When roughly 4,000 jobs at the Boeing Plant in Ridley were on the chopping block, Mary Gay led the charge to successfully restore funding for this critical program in the National Defense Authorization Act. She also helped secure a $650 million contract to produce new ships at the Philadelphia Shipyard. Congresswoman Scanlon has introduced legislation to reduce the burden of student loan debt and the costs of prescription drugs. She led House floor debate on critical legislative victories, including the Equality Act and the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women’s Act. Mary Gay also helped push forward two critical pieces of commonsense gun violence prevention bills, which earned bipartisan support in the House. Congresswoman Scanlon has been tirelessly fighting for the people, working to restore faith in our democracy, and has been a leader in the House effort to hold the Trump Administration accountable.

SUE SAYS

Mary Gay grew up in Watertown, NY, as an Irish Catholic and one of three girls. While her initial aspirations were to practice law to help the less fortunate, Congresswoman Scanlon would later discover a new calling in politics to have an even greater positive impact. Her goal remains to protect and improve the lives of American children, families, veterans, and seniors.