(CNN)The Senate on Tuesday passed a measure that would make daylight saving time permanent in the United States.
The Chamber unanimously passed the Sun Protection Act. The bill would still have to pass the House and be signed by President Joe Biden to become law. If the measure clears Congress and is signed into law, it would mean they would no longer fall behind every fall.
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a sponsor of the legislation, said he has no assurance the House of Representatives will take it up, but “it’s an idea whose time has come.”
Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who was presiding at the time of the bill’s consideration and representing Arizona, a state that doesn’t observe daylight saving time, was heard on the mic saying, “Oh, I love it.” After his passage she uttered a “Yes!”
The bill has bipartisan support, including several fellow Republican and Democratic supporters.
“You will see that it is an eclectic collection of members of the United States Senate who are in favor of what we have just done here in the Senate, and that is passing a bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent,” Rubio said in remarks on the Senate floor. “Just this past weekend we all went through this semi-annual ritual of turning the clock forwards and backwards and the glitches that come with it. And after a while you have to ask yourself why do we keep doing this?”
“If we can pull this off, we don’t have to do this stupid thing anymore,” Rubio added.
Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, expressed support for the law after being told it had passed.
“I just think the extra hour at the end of the day is always better than having it dark when the kids go to school and dark when the kids come home,” he said.
Rubio noted that the bill is delaying implementation to November 2023 as the transportation industry has already made timetables for the existing time and has asked for additional months to make the adjustment.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the main Democrat sponsor, said Tuesday before the bill passed, “This would give us an opportunity for Americans across the country to fall behind and make Daylight Saving Time permanent and add a little sunlight into the lives of most.” People.”
CNN’s Lauren Fox, Clare Foran, and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.
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