By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congress will hold its first hearing in more than three years on a long-running push to make daylight saving time permanent in the United States.
The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on April 10 on whether to end the practice of changing the clocks twice a year, more than three years after the Senate unanimously voted in March 2022 to make daylight saving time permanent.
That effort stalled in the House and President Donald Trump said last month there was no consensus and action was unlikely.
Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz said the hearing will focus on whether to end the practice of changing the clocks twice a year.
“The antiquated tradition of changing our clocks has a very real impact on Americans’ businesses, health, and happiness, particularly for parents of young children,” Cruz said.
The hearing will include the CEO of the National Golf Course Owners Association, an expert with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the president of Insurance Institute for Highway, a group that studies car crashes.
Daylight saving time – putting the clocks forward one hour during the summer half of the year to make the most of the longer evenings – has been in place in nearly all of the United States since the 1960s, but proponents have pushed to make it year-round.
Supporters of remaining on daylight saving time argue it would lead to brighter evenings and more economic activity during the winter months. Critics say it would force children to walk to school in darkness, since the measure would mean experiencing sunrise an hour later.
Lawmakers are as divided as the American public – some want to stay on standard time year-round, more are on record calling for remaining on daylight saving time, while others want to keep the status quo.
Proponents of eliminating daylight saving time say twice-annual changing of clocks causes sleep disturbance, health issues and more car crashes.
Year-round daylight saving time was used during World War Two and adopted again in 1973 in a bid to reduce energy use because of an oil embargo, but was unpopular and was repealed a year later.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese and Chizu Nomiyama)
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