Sunshine Protection Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Bilirakis and the Energy and Commerce Committee for bringing this bill forward.

My dear friend, the gentleman from Florida, Vern Buchanan, years ago began this process, understanding that it was more than just an issue that Congress would deal with. It is also an issue that is called spring forward, fall back.

You fall back as we get to October, and that means you lose the time, the light that you had all this time. Spring forward is always seen by the American people--and if you serve for Roger Williams and the Republican congressional baseball team--as an opportunity for you to be able to see for the first time in the light what the day is going to look like to catch a fly ball.

The bottom line to this whole thing is spring forward, fall back is something that impacts every single American. It impacts people when they go to work. It impacts people as they try to find time to play with their children at night--just a little bit extra time. It helps people who have retinal or eye issues to be able to see more clearly for longer from the time they get up until the time they work their way home, perhaps after work.

It is no wonder that spring forward, fall back is something that the American people are asking Congress to please standardize and give them more light and opportunity. Spring forward, fall back is an opportunity for the American people to have more time in the light of day to not only live their lives but to accomplish those things, rather than being in the dark.

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you that what this does is it makes it standard across the country, and it does. I think that puts us all with the same opportunity, and that is what the American people want.

I couldn't exactly say it because I didn't want to say it wrong, but ``spring forward, fall back'' is a commonsense opportunity that every single person knows and understands because as we now have enjoyed our spring forward, if we pass this, we do not have to change it to fall back, to fall back to darkness, to fall back to change.

Lastly, it impacts my staff greatly and anyone on Capitol Hill because we are very acutely aware that when we get off work, like hundreds of millions of Americans, they go home in the dark. It means that people go into parking lots in the dark. It means that people go and perhaps walk home or drive in the dark at a time when it would be a safety factor.

There are, of course, those who do not want this. That really does not bother me. For us to address this with fear rather than knowing that the American people want this is the issue about what drives me to be here.

It is big in Texas because we spend a lot of time outside. I want to reiterate to the American people: We are listening. It is something we have taken up for a long time. Finally, Vern Buchanan and the Energy and Commerce Committee have brought this bill to us.

I am very pleased to say I will be an ``aye'' vote. I hope that my colleagues will be the same.

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