Paris Hilton visits the White House to advocate for institutionalized youth
By Betsy Klein, CNN
Paris Hilton met with officials at the White House Tuesday during a trip to Washington aimed at her ongoing advocacy against child abuse.
Hilton, a White House official tells CNN, “was at the White House with state and national advocates as part of her advocacy efforts to improve protections of youth in residential programs and facilities.”
The official added, “She met with policy staff where she and other survivors shared their powerful stories and discussed issues pertinent to the protection of institutionalized youth in America.”
The hotel heiress, reality TV star, influencer, businesswoman, pop singer and DJ was spotted outside the West Wing ahead of her meeting. She told CNN she would be discussing new legislation aimed at shoring up protections for children in residential programs and facilities during her trip to Washington.
Hilton is supporting the Federal Accountability for Congregate Care Act, according to her website. That bill creates a Youth in Congregate Care Bill of Rights, creates a joint commission for research to understand the scope of institutional abuse, and includes funding to address systemic issues, according to a fact sheet from the nonprofit Justice Resource Institute.
The bill, which has yet to be introduced, is being led by Democrats Rep. Ro Khanna of California, Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, and California Rep. Adam Schiff.
Hilton also met with Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley on Capitol Hill later Tuesday.
She was accompanied at the White House by her husband, venture capitalist Carter Reum. She posed for photos outside the White House, including several with Biden staffers, before going inside for her meeting.
The issue of child abuse is personal to Hilton, who opened up about her own experience with physical and emotional abuse at the Provo Canyon School, a Utah boarding school for troubled teens, in the 2020 documentary “This is Paris.”
“I still have nightmares about it. The only thing that saved my sanity was thinking about who I wanted to become when I got out of there,” she said in the documentary. “I just created this brand and this persona and this character and I’ve been stuck with her ever since.”
She told ABC News in an October 2021 interview that she suffered “being physically abused, yelled at, restrained locked in rooms, forced medication, being watched by male staff while I took a shower. I had basically no human rights,” and has since connected with numerous survivors of similar trauma.
Her Tuesday meetings build on a previous visit to Washington in October 2021 where she advocated for the issue.
The-CNN-Wire
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