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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) offered the following statement after the Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which Lankford introduced last year with Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Rick Scott (R-FL), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Ed Markey (D-MA).
“This is one issue that I have been chipping away at for a few years, and an issue I have consistently heard from Oklahomans—they are ready to lock the clock. Today Oklahomans, parents, dog owners, and lovers of daylight are one step closer to not having to deal with springing forward or falling back,” Lankford said. “Congress created Daylight Saving decades ago as a wartime effort, now it is well past time to lock the clock and end this experiment. I call on the House of Representatives to pass this bill immediately.”
If the bill is passed by the House of Representatives and signed into law by the president, it would apply to states who currently participate in DST, which most states observe for eight months out of the year. Standard Time, from November to March, is only observed for four months out of the year. The bill would simply negate the need for Americans to change their clocks twice a year. Many studies have shown that making DST permanent could benefit the economy and the country. Lankford and Rubio penned an opinion piece on why Daylight Saving Time should be permanent.