{time}  1600

  We recognize that some products and activities are simply
inappropriate for children. Pornography should be no different. The
SCREEN Act is one of the most consequential bills to protect children
in the digital age.
  Today, we have an opportunity to make the internet safer for the next
generation, and I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation.
  I thank Chairman Guthrie for including my bill in this package.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Florida (Ms. Castor), another member of our committee who also happens
to be the ranking member of our Energy Subcommittee and has been very
much involved with this issue and the KIDS Act from the very beginning.
  Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for
yielding me time.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a very important step forward to protect our
kids online. I really arrived here more as a parent than a Member of
Congress, watching two daughters grow up at a time when the internet
and social media was evolving, and I just understood from a very
personal level what was happening.
  Being here in Congress, listening to parents whose children had
suffered online harms, whether that was suicide or cyberbullying, the
evidence really is overwhelming now about the online risks and the
physical and mental harms suffered by kids.
  Over 40 percent of kids under 12 are exposed to inappropriate
material within their first month on social media: cyberbullying and
violent and graphic content.
  Excessive screen time is linked to significantly higher rates of
anxiety and depression among teens. Those spending 4 or more hours
online daily are more than twice as likely to report symptoms of both.
  My colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee and I have spent
many Congresses--a number of Congresses--working with advocacy groups
and parents about the best way to combat the harms experienced by young
people online.
  The underlying record is replete with evidence from psychologists,
pediatricians, and teachers about the impact that Big Tech has on our
kids. I have submitted their stories, reports, and research for the
Record as we update the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, a law
that is outdated, that now will cover teens and provide much greater
safety and privacy for young people.
  Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record all of these stories and
everything by reference here today. This includes the testimonies,
coalition letters, and advisory from the Surgeon General, all showing
that compulsive social media use is harmful to the health of our kids.
The documents can be found at the following links: Anxious Generation:
The Evidence (2026) https://www.anxiousgeneration.com/research/the-
evidence; Master Complaint in Meta Lawsuit (2025) https://
www.motleyrice.com/sites/default/files/documents/Less-Redacted-Omnibus-
Opposition-Brief.pdf; Pew Research Center Report: Teens, Social Media
and Mental Health (2025) https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/
uploads/sites/20/2025/04/PI_2025.04.22_teens-social-media-mental-
health_REPORT.pdf; Fairplay: Teen Accounts: Broken Promises, How
Instagram is Failing to Protect Minors (2025) https://
fairplayforkids.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Teen-Accounts-Broken-
Promises-How-Instagram-is-failing-to-protect-minors.pdf; FTC Report: A
Look Behind the Screens, Examining the Data Practices of Social Media
and Video Streaming Services (2024); https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/
ftc_gov/pdf/Social-Media-6b-Report-9-911-2024.pdf; U.S. Surgeon
General's Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health (2023)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK594761/pdf/
Bookshelf_NBK594761.pdf; American Psychological Association: Health
Advisory on Social Media Use in Adolescence (2023) https://www.apa.org/
topics/social-media-internet/health-advisory-adolescent-social-media-
use.pdf
  As digital threats evolve, so must our laws. The bipartisan KIDS Act
before us today responds to these realities with strong, commonsense
safeguards.
  This has been a long time coming, and I really thank Chairman Guthrie
for bringing it in for a landing. My good friend, Chairman Gus
Bilirakis, and I have worked on KOSA. I appreciate the support from my
allies on privacy, Representative Walberg and now Representative Lee
who came on this Congress.
  I appreciate the work of Ranking Member Pallone, Representative
Trahan, and the professional staff who really listened to the parents.
I know it is not the be all-end all, and they have my commitment to
keep pressing for the strongest privacy protections and design code
protections.
  I hope the Senate adopts a very strong bill. It is there. The ball is
going to be in their court now after the House passes the KIDS Act
today, but this is an important step for kids, parents, and families in
America. How do we keep up with the technological innovations? How do
we keep up with what Big Tech wants to do to monetize children's time
online? They deserve the protections here today. They deserve this
strong step forward, and I again thank my colleagues and urge a strong
``yes'' vote.
  Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I want everyone to understand that this KIDS Act
mandates safeguards, parental tools, and policies to keep kids safe
across the internet, from social media to video games to chatbots.
  Secondly, the bill adds data minimization language, and this is so
important. It minimizes the amount of data that can be collected. This
is to prevent excessive data collection for kids and teens, provides
rights to delete access and correct data to teens

and parents of children, and bans targeted advertising to kids and
teens.
  This bill reflects months of bipartisan negotiation between myself
and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Guthrie, Mr. Bilirakis, and
Ms. Castor to arrive at a package of bills that will provide meaningful
baseline protections for kids online without stopping further progress
in the States. We do not preempt the States from taking further action.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly believe this bill provides a path to passage
here in the House and also in the Senate.

  I ask Members on a bipartisan basis to support the bill, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for those data protections.
That has been very important and a big part of the negotiations, and
the gentleman has been a great advocate for that. I really appreciate
it.
  I mentioned Ms. Schmill and Ms. Molak when we first started. I should
mention the staff and their hard work. They had countless hours meeting
with different groups. Members were meeting with different groups and
working hard on this, but the staff has, as well.
  When I first took the chairmanship, very early in my chairmanship
when my colleagues asked me to chair this committee, we sat down with a
group of people to determine our priorities.
  Number one was this bill. Number one was this effort. Number one was
this issue. People talk a lot of times about how we have so many young
staffers on Capitol Hill. They are, and they are also young parents. I
have seen from both sides of the aisle, a couple of our staff members
have different opinions on other issues but sit down and put that all
aside when it comes to their children, America's children.
  Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the hard, hard work. I really
encourage my colleagues to vote for this bill tonight. I really
encourage my colleagues to vote for this bill tonight because when we
vote for this bill tonight, the House will put its imprint--and we have
worked with the Senate, but the House will put its imprint to make sure
that children are protected, parents are empowered, and Big Tech is
held accountable.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Moran). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 7757, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.