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Floor Speech

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Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, think about how much has happened over the last several weeks. We have had one Presidential candidate survive an assassination attempt. Our current President is dropping out of the race. We have had protesters burning an American flag and raising a Palestinian flag as the United States' closest ally gave a speech to Congress yesterday. That is how much has happened in several weeks.

Guess what hasn't happened in 25 years? An update of how to protect children on their online experience. That has not changed in 25 years, even when so much happens in just a few weeks. So rules from 25 years ago cannot effectively govern social media sites that did not exist 25 years ago, were not conceived of 25 years ago.

We have waited too long to update these rules, but today we have a chance to fix. The current armor protecting children's internet activity passed into law in 1998. Babies born that year are well into their professional careers. People were concerned about Y2K, and Nick Saban had not become LSU's football coach.

Of course, the 1998 rules do not prohibit Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok from collecting personal information on young teenagers without consent because that was not envisioned 25 years ago.

Today, the internet is an integral part of a child's life. The information a child has access to has drastically expanded, exposing children to risks that they may not have the maturity to navigate independently.

The internet has so many good things and can be a great learning tool for our children. But we can't ignore the dangers--the adult content, the pornography, the cyber bullying, the violence, the predatory behavior, the overall impact upon our children's mental health. Our children should not be left to face these challenges alone. Under current law, the law passed in 1998--good for the time, but not for now--only children less than age 13 were covered, leaving a whole population of teenagers unprotected.

With 95 percent of teenagers between 13 and 17 using social media, their protections should be expanded. By expanding these protections, by banning targeted advertising, by limiting data collection, and strengthening parental control, COPPA 2.0 enables safer online experiences and guards against exposure to manipulation and exploitation. This, in lockstep with the Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, will give the parents the peace of mind to know their child is safer than they were before.

These bills empower parents. They empower children. They are bipartisan no-brainers, which is why they have overwhelming bipartisan support in both Chambers of Congress.

Look, I am a doctor, a father, a grandfather. But I am not the only grandfather and father voting on these pieces of legislation. Anyone with children knows that they would do anything to protect those children. Congress has a chance to reflect that paternal and maternal instinct and take a serious step to protect our children. These bills will make a difference. I urge my colleagues to support.

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