Sunshine Protection Act of 2025
Floor Speech
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Mrs. CAMMACK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me time.
Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in strong support for H.R. 139, the Sunshine Protection Act, introduced by my friend and fellow Floridian, Congressman Vern Buchanan.
This is one of those issues that has been highlighted here today that brings us together as Americans, regardless of party, no matter where you are. Everyone always asks the same question every year because we are all equally annoyed: Why in the heck are we still changing our clocks?
For decades, we have accepted this ritual of springing forward and falling back, even though it disrupts routines, throws off our sleep, and creates unnecessary frustration for families across the country.
I will say, Mr. Speaker, it was always a nuisance, but as a new mom with an infant child getting the baby on a sleep schedule--and all the moms and dads of infants know what I am talking about. You get your schedule going, and then you have to spring forward or fall back, and then you start cussing the dang time changes.
This is personal at this point. It is time we stop changing the clocks and we start using some common sense.
Mr. Speaker, there are lots of Floridians here in the Chamber supporting this bill because, as Floridians--we are The Sunshine State--we value sunshine.
It is critical that we do this because we all know very closely and firsthand that our communities thrive when our families have more daylight after work and after school. That extra hour means more Little League games, more evenings at local parks, more dinners at outdoor patios and restaurants, more customers walking through the doors of all of our mom-and-pop businesses, and more time for families to simply enjoy being together.
Again, as a Floridian, it is hot in the middle of the day in the summer. It gets nice in Florida in the afternoons and evenings. It would be nice for us to enjoy a little bit more time. I know I am making this about Florida, but I am just being honest: #MakeAmericaFlorida.
For a State like Florida that welcomes millions of visitors every single year, more daylight in the evening means more opportunities. This legislation does exactly what Americans have been asking Congress to do not just for years but decades: End outdated practices of changing our clocks twice a year by making daylight saving time permanent.
It also respects the choices of States that have already opted out of daylight saving time under current law. Let's be honest. There are very few things that everyone agrees on these days, but whether you are a parent, like me, trying to get your kids to sleep or get your kids out the door for school, or you are a small business owner, a farmer, a first responder, or someone who just wants one less thing to worry about, changing the clocks twice a year is a hassle that most Americans are ready to leave behind.
We all have heard the studies here in the debate today about the real benefits to ending these biannual clock changes. The research has suggested that eliminating the time changes improves public safety. As the wife of a first responder, I very much appreciate that. It reduces disruptions to sleep and could even provide energy savings.
This bill doesn't create any new Federal bureaucracies. It doesn't grow the size of government, and it doesn't impose costly new regulations. Instead, it simplifies life. It will be one less thing for the American people to worry about.
Sometimes the best thing in Congress that we can do is remove unnecessary burdens that no longer serve its purposes. That is exactly what we are doing here today.
Mr. Speaker, this is a practical, bipartisan solution whose time, pun intended, has come. Let's stop asking Americans to reset their clocks every March and November. Let's provide some certainty and consistency and a little more sunshine at the end of the day.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 139, the Sunshine Protection Act. I thank my friend and colleague, Congressman Vern Buchanan, for his efforts in advancing this and making this a real change that every American can get behind.
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