Mary Gay Scanlon
Representative for Pennsylvania · Democratic · United States
“Mr. Speaker, as ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, I am here to emphasize that this proposed constitutional amendment would undermine our system of checks and balances and fly in the face of the Founders' wisdom.”
House of Representatives2 September 2026Source ↗
“Those calls have grown louder in the wake of each decision that has lessened our individual rights and liberties or enabled the administration to avoid accountability or overrule the powers and duties reserved to the American people through their Representatives in Congress and in the ethical lapses of the Court's own members.”
House of Representatives2 September 2026Source ↗
“Parents will be driving to work before sunrise. Morning commuters, students, and pedestrians will be starting their day in the dark, not because of the seasons, but because Congress decided to move the clock instead of following the Sun. We don't have to speculate about what would happen under permanent daylight saving time.”
House of Representatives14 July 2026Source ↗
“We can all understand the appeal of an extra hour of sunlight in the summer, but permanent daylight saving time comes with serious health and safety concerns with even darker winter mornings. If this bill becomes law, winter mornings across the country are going to look very different.”
House of Representatives14 July 2026Source ↗
“Medical and scientific experts have endorsed the move to permanent standard time because permanent daylight saving time disrupts our natural circadian rhythms, the internal clocks that regulate when we sleep and wake.”
House of Representatives14 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, as I think we can all tell from the ensuing debate here, there are serious issues that this body needs to be wrestling with, but the Speaker has chosen to put on the floor this week H.R. 139, a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent.”
House of Representatives14 July 2026Source ↗
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“Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to reject this measure.”
House of Representatives2 September 2026Source ↗
“Those calls have grown louder in the wake of each decision that has lessened our individual rights and liberties or enabled the administration to avoid accountability or overrule the powers and duties reserved to the American people through their Representatives in Congress and in the ethical lapses of the Court's own members. People are paying attention. They are demanding a Court that is more responsive to we the people than to an administration that is beholden to special interests and oligarchs. The American public, the Founders, and the Constitution demand more than a misguided constitutional amendment that would permanently tie Congress' hands by capping the number of Justices, especially when there are more pragmatic solutions that have not yet received due consideration. Mr.”
House of Representatives2 September 2026Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, as ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, I am here to emphasize that this proposed constitutional amendment would undermine our system of checks and balances and fly in the face of the Founders' wisdom. I think it would be a grave mistake to dictate how many Justices should sit on the Supreme Court in perpetuity and, thereby, lock in for a generation, or more, a rightwing majority, which has engaged in an unprecedented assault on Supreme Court norms and our constitutional order. For the past several years, in the wake of the Court packing that occurred during the first Trump administration and under the Senate leadership of Mitch McConnell, constituents have called for Supreme Court reform at every townhall that I have held.”
House of Representatives2 September 2026Source ↗
“Importantly, it would also allow for States to adopt permanent daylight saving time through State law if they choose. If we are going to make a permanent change that affects every American, we should follow the science, learn from history, and prioritize Americans' health, particularly that of our children. That is why I urge a ``no'' vote on the rule and on H.R. 139.”
House of Representatives14 July 2026Source ↗
“A Gallup poll last year found that Americans preferred permanent standard time to permanent daylight saving time by 2-to-1. That is why I have introduced the bipartisan Sunshine for Our Kids Act with Representative Pat Harrigan. Our bill would end the clock changes and make standard time the national default.”
House of Representatives14 July 2026Source ↗
“Medical and scientific experts have endorsed the move to permanent standard time because permanent daylight saving time disrupts our natural circadian rhythms, the internal clocks that regulate when we sleep and wake. That disruption has been linked to higher rates of heart disease, stroke, chronic sleep deprivation, and other adverse health concerns. These bad outcomes are even more serious and long-lasting than the sleep deprivation, traffic accidents, and heart attacks that follow the twice-yearly changes that we currently have. I have also heard directly from my constituents. Like most Americans, they are ready to ditch the switch, but when I ask which permanent system they would prefer if they had to choose, the clear preference was for standard time.”
House of Representatives14 July 2026Source ↗
“Parents will be driving to work before sunrise. Morning commuters, students, and pedestrians will be starting their day in the dark, not because of the seasons, but because Congress decided to move the clock instead of following the Sun. We don't have to speculate about what would happen under permanent daylight saving time. We already tried it. During the 1974 energy crisis, Congress made daylight saving time permanent in a failed attempt to save energy. It lasted less than a year. Families found themselves sending their kids to school in the dark, and there was a rash of fatal crashes involving schoolchildren. Communities raised serious safety concerns, and public support, which initially was quite strong, quickly collapsed. Congress repealed the policy within months. The science has only become clearer since then.”
House of Representatives14 July 2026Source ↗
“We can all understand the appeal of an extra hour of sunlight in the summer, but permanent daylight saving time comes with serious health and safety concerns with even darker winter mornings. If this bill becomes law, winter mornings across the country are going to look very different. Millions of Americans will wake up during the winter months in complete darkness, with the Sun not rising until long after people get up and travel to school or work or have to go about their days. In much of upstate and northern New York, communities will not see the Sun rise until well after 8:30 a.m. In Michigan, it will be close to 9 before the Sun comes up. In parts of the Pacific Northwest, sunrise will be pushed even later than 9 a.m. In many parts of the country, children will be waiting for schoolbuses in darkness.”
House of Representatives14 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, as I think we can all tell from the ensuing debate here, there are serious issues that this body needs to be wrestling with, but the Speaker has chosen to put on the floor this week H.R. 139, a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent. I think there is one thing everyone in this Chamber can agree on: Americans do not like changing their clocks twice a year. The big question isn't whether we should ditch the switch; it is how. Unfortunately, the bill that the Speaker has chosen chooses the wrong solution by making daylight saving time permanent nationwide while denying States the right to enact permanent standard time if they so choose--not if, but when they discover that Congress made the wrong choice.”
House of Representatives14 July 2026Source ↗
“My question for House Republicans is: What does it take to get them to stand up for Americans? Mr. Speaker, I yield my time but not my outrage. ____________________”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, I spent the weekend listening to my constituents, and it damn near broke me. I heard from seniors worried about Musk's attacks on Social Security and Medicaid, small businesses confronting bankruptcy from Trump's tariffs, and parents seeing their college and retirement savings wiped out.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the White House's pet project, the department of government inefficiency, otherwise known as DOGI. For the past month, our Federal workers and agencies have been assaulted by a dilettante billionaire empowered by President Trump to muck about in Americans' lives and Federal agencies.”
House of Representatives25 February 2025Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to urge Federal workers in Pennsylvania and across the Nation to exercise extreme caution as they consider the bogus buyout plan that the White House is pressuring them to accept.”
House of Representatives5 February 2025Source ↗
“They have been rightly condemned by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Fraternal Order of Police, among other police organizations, but virtually every House Republican has turned their backs on our police and cowered in silence rather than denounce the shameful decision to put those criminals back on our streets. Mr. Speaker, I continue to oppose this rule and this bill. I seek unanimous consent to include in the Record the Joint International Association of Chiefs of Police and The Fraternal Order of Police Statement on the Recent Presidential Pardons dated January 21, 2025.”
House of Representatives22 January 2025Source ↗