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House Passes Bill To Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent, But Its Fate In The Senate Remains Unclear

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WASHINGTON — The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to make daylight saving time permanent nationwide, advancing a measure that would eliminate the twice-yearly ritual of changing clocks, though the bill's path forward in the Senate remains uncertain.

The measure, officially named the "Sunshine Protection Act," passed the House on a 308-to-117 vote, drawing support from both Republicans and Democrats. Despite the lopsided House vote, Senate leaders have offered no clear indication of whether the chamber will take up the bill, and at least one Republican senator appears inclined to try to block it from advancing.

Trump Has Championed the Effort

President Trump has been a vocal supporter of eliminating the biannual clock change, describing the practice of adjusting clocks forward each spring and back each fall as a "ridiculous, twice yearly production." In a social media post in May, Trump made clear his preference for permanent daylight saving time over the alternative of permanent standard time.

"We are going with the far more popular alternative, Saving Daylight, which gives you a longer, brighter Day," Trump wrote. "And who can be against that."

Florida Republicans Lead the Charge

A significant bloc of Florida Republicans in Congress has driven the legislative push behind the bill. Representative Vern Buchanan of the Tampa Bay area has backed the measure, while Representative Anna Paulina Luna, another Tampa Bay-area Republican, served as a cosponsor.

House leadership agreed to allow this week's vote partly as a means of persuading Luna to lift a legislative blockade she had maintained in an effort to force Senate action on a separate voting restriction bill that Trump has championed, illustrating how the daylight saving time vote........

© International Business Times