By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers held their first hearing Thursday in more than three years on a long-running debate to end the practice of switching clocks twice a year.
The Senate Commerce Committee heard testimony on whether to make daylight saving time permanent or remain on standard time year round. The Senate unanimously voted in March 2022 to make daylight saving time permanent but that effort stalled in the House of Representatives, which never took up the issue.
“There are very real and complicated issues and countervailing arguments on both sides,” said Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz. “There is widespread agreement on locking the clock, but where to lock it?”
He said he was not sure how he would proceed after the hearing.
Democratic Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester supports ending the clock switching. “We need to find a solution and stick with it,” Rochester said.
Some say Congress could let states choose which time they want to remain on but others worry that would lead to a patchwork.
President Donald Trump said last month there was no consensus and action was unlikely.
Daylight saving time – putting the clocks forward one hourduring the summer half of the year to make the most of thelonger evenings – has been in place in nearly all of the UnitedStates since the 1960s, but proponents have pushed to make ityear-round.
Supporters of remaining on daylight saving time argue itwould lead to brighter evenings and more economic activityduring the winter months. Critics say it would force children towalk to school in darkness.
Karin Johnson, a professor of neurology, called for making standard time permanent, saying at the hearing it “aligns with our natural circadian rhythms, improves health, safety, and productivity, and eliminates the harmful and unpopular effects of seasonal clock changes.”
The National Golf Course Owners Association said moving to permanent daylight saving time could add 23 million rounds of golf annually and boost revenue by $1 billion, while permanent time could cut 53 million total annual rounds.
Proponents of eliminating daylight saving time saytwice-annual changing of clocks causes sleep disturbance, healthissues and more car crashes.
Year-round daylight saving time was used during WorldWar Two and adopted again in 1973 in a bid to reduce energy usebecause of an oil embargo, but was unpopular and was repealed ayear later.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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