Paris Hilton said she was shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York last week when she heard the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act – a law she has campaigned tirelessly for over the past three years – passed with unanimous support was passed by the US Senate.

The celebrity hotel heiress told ABC News that she was with her sister “doing some little girl-sister Christmas shopping” when she received a FaceTime call with an update that the bill would provide greater federal protections for institutional juvenile treatment programs would, had reached its first major legislative milestone.

Hilton has been an outspoken, public advocate for reforms in congregate care facilities and residential treatment programs for “troubled” minors for years. She brazenly described her own traumatizing experience at Provo Canyon School in Utah when she was a teenager.

“We were all just crying, in tears, so proud and so happy, and the whole survivor community is just – everyone is so grateful and so happy, and they feel so validated that they are being listened to.” The entrepreneur, DJ, model and actress told ABC News on Wednesday about her reaction to the bill’s passage in the Senate.

Now, with just a week left in the 118th Congress, Hilton is calling on House leaders to prioritize the measure and bring it forward for a vote “immediately.”

“We all just hope and pray that they do the right thing,” said Hilton, who returns to Washington DC on Monday to meet with members of the House of Representatives.

“I just really hope they don’t let politics get in the way of saving children’s lives. This is so urgent because the House of Representatives must pass this bill next week before the end of this year’s session or the bill will fail. We would have to do it all again.”

ABC News did not receive a response from Speaker Mike Johnson as to whether he would consider putting the bill up for a vote in the final week of the session. Legislation, which normally must be passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee before it can reach the floor of leaders, can be expedited by bypassing this step, according to a source familiar with committee business.

“When the U.S. Senate came together in a rare show of unity on Wednesday, December 11, to unanimously pass the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. It was proof that we listen to survivors and do politics.” That said, we can make real, meaningful change. But I can’t celebrate until this bill becomes law, and now it’s up to the U.S. House of Representatives to finish what the Senate started,” she wrote in an open letter shared on her Instagram page on Monday.

“To Leader Scalise, Speaker Johnson and every member of the House of Representatives: I urge you to think about the children who cannot speak for themselves. They rely on us – on you – to protect their safety and dignity. Passing this legislation would be a testament to what we can accomplish when we lead with empathy and courage.”

According to her spokesman, starting in October 2021, Hilton traveled to Washington every six to 10 months, each time calling on Congress to reform residential treatment facilities for juveniles.

She met individually with members like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who thanked Hilton for her work on the issue after the bill’s passage last week, and Republicans like Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Tim Scott of South Carolina.

Some of their biggest supporters were the bill’s co-sponsors: Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, along with Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., Hilton said.

“A lack of oversight and transparency in juvenile residential programs has allowed the abuse of children in facilities across the country for far too long,” Cornyn said in a statement following the bill’s passage.

“I am proud that the Senate unanimously passed this legislation to ensure the protection of the vulnerable children in these institutions, and I want to thank the countless advocates who courageously shared their stories to help end institutional child abuse. “

Hilton also testified before the House Ways and Means Committee in June, emotionally recounting her experiences as a teenager at Provo Canyon School.

“These programs promised healing, growth and support, but for two years they did not allow me to speak, move freely or even look out the window,” she testified in 2023. “I was force-fed medication and sexually abused,” the staff said. I was violently restrained and dragged through the halls, stripped naked and thrown into solitary confinement.”

The Provo school in Utah, which is still in operation today, released an updated statement in June 2024 saying it could not comment on operations or students’ experiences at the school before August 2000, when it closed shortly after Hilton’s stay there changed hands. Provo said in its statement that it “did not tolerate or encourage any form of abuse.”

Hilton went to the White House to advocate for child welfare and met with political staff in May 2022. If the bill passes the House this week, it would end up on President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed before the end of his term. Hilton and her team expressed confidence that the president would be willing to sign the measure.

“We have already had some discussions with the White House about the bill and have no reason to believe they would not sign it into law,” a Hilton spokesman said.

The socialist’s push for congregate care reform began in 2021 when she came to Washington to support a similar measure, the Federal Accountability for Congregate Care Act, which was another bill introduced in October 2021 and by Khanna, Merkley, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and then-Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

Prior to her 2021 visit, Hilton had chronicled her 11-month experience at the Provo Canyon school in her 2020 documentary “This is Paris” and in a Washington Post editorial.

Hilton told ABC News that the lobbying process was painful but also liberating for her.

“It’s been a lot of work… it’s not easy to talk about so many things that are so painful and traumatic, but I know it’s so important to be a voice for those who don’t and that I do too. “I’m grateful to be able to use my platform and my voice to ensure that no more children are traumatized in the name of treatment,” Hilton said.

“And it was also just a very healing experience to see the impact it had…it was just incredibly healing and liberating.”

Hilton is in New York with her friend and “The Simple Life” co-star Nicole Richie to promote a revival of her iconic show, but said her work on issues related to the troubled teen industry is her most significant endeavor.

“I’m so proud of many things in my life, but the work – my advocacy work to protect children – is what I’m most proud of and that’s what I want.” “It will be a legacy” said Hilton.

If the bill doesn’t pass this session, Hilton said she will continue to fight the issue.

“I won’t stop fighting until something changes. This is my lifelong mission and I truly believe it is my true life purpose. I will not stop fighting for these children and being a voice for them.”