The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone)
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky.

                             General Leave

  Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on H.R. 7757.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Kentucky?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 7757, the Kids
Internet and Digital Safety Act, or the KIDS Act.
  This legislation is the most comprehensive, impactful children's
online safety package Congress has considered.
  I thank Ranking Member Pallone for his partnership and leadership on
this issue. Protecting children should not be a partisan issue, and I
appreciate his commitment and working with us to find common ground to
address the very real challenges facing families today.
  Before I continue, I will recognize two parents who are with us in
the gallery today: Deb Schmill, mother of Becca, and Maurine Molak,
mother of David. They have experienced every parent's worst nightmare:
losing a child because of online harms.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank them for their courage in sharing their stories
and for turning unimaginable loss into tireless advocacy to help
protect other children and families. Their presence here today reminds
us of what is at stake, and their voices have helped shape this
legislation.
  A key part of our approach was negotiating a package of impactful
provisions. We worked hard to reach a workable compromise. The KIDS Act
incorporates 13 bipartisan Member priorities from across the House to
empower parents, protect children's and teens' privacy, and hold Big
Tech and online forums accountable.
  The bill requires platforms to protect kids by default, including
limiting addictive and dangerous design features and risky messaging
functions.
  It gives parents stronger tools to monitor and manage their
children's online experiences, establishes safeguards for AI chatbots,
creates new protections in online gaming environments, and requires age
verification for pornography websites to ensure kids cannot access
explicit content.
  The legislation also modernizes children's privacy protections by
requiring parental consent before collecting information from children
under 14 and extending important new privacy protections to teenagers
under 18.
  At its core, this legislation sends a simple message: Children
deserve a safer online experience, parents deserve a greater voice in
their children's digital lives, and technology companies must be held
accountable when they fail to protect young users.
  While no single bill will solve every challenge facing families
online, this legislation represents a significant and long-overdue step
forward in establishing meaningful safeguards. It is an important
milestone, not a finish line, in the effort to better protect children
online and hold bad actors accountable.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan
legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded not to refer to persons
in the gallery.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the KIDS Act, which
is, as my chairman has mentioned, bipartisan legislation to protect
kids online and rein in Big Tech. I thank Chairman Guthrie for all his
work on this.
  The internet, social media, and now artificial intelligence have
profoundly changed how kids and teens connect with families and
friends, how they learn about what is happening around them, and how
they participate in an ever-changing online world.
  While there have been positive advancements, our kids are also
suffering from Big Tech's choke hold on their attention and their
relentless pursuit to keep them connected to their platforms. Big Tech
is using reckless practices to surveil our kids and teens, exploit
vulnerabilities to turn a profit, and promote engagement regardless of
the consequences.
  For too long, Big Tech has had a free pass while kids and teens face
real harm online, including predatory design features, dangerous AI
chatbots, and data brokers profiting off of their personal information.
  We simply cannot allow this to continue. It is long past time for
Congress to step in and pass legislation that protects our kids and
teens and reins in Big Tech.
  Now, the bipartisan KIDS Act does just that. It is a comprehensive
bill that addresses a problem everyone in Congress cares deeply about,
and that is keeping kids and teens safe online.
  The KIDS Act mandates safeguards, parental tools, and policies across
video games and social media platforms, including social gaming
platforms like Roblox and chatbots. Platforms are required to limit
addictive design features, restrict sharing minors' geolocation data,
turn off personalized recommendation systems that drive user
engagement, and a lot more.
  The KIDS Act also changes the business incentives driving Big Tech's
desire to keep kids on their platforms by protecting minors' data and
expanding these critical privacy protections from the current age of 12
to teens up to the age of 17.
  The bill also bans targeted advertising to kids and teens and ensures

that websites can collect and retain only limited kids' data that is
necessary to provide a product or service.
  It also requires data brokers that sell minors' data to register with
the Federal Trade Commission and pay an annual fee, bringing
transparency to a secretive process and a crucial first step toward
ending the practice of data brokers selling kids' data.

  Mr. Speaker, I can't express enough gratitude to all the parents who
have shared their stories and fought for Congress to come together to
take action to save other parents from ever experiencing what they went
through.
  I know there are parents who would like Congress to go even further
in the KIDS Act. I will be clear: The KIDS Act is a floor, not a
ceiling. The preemption language in the KIDS Act is written with the
explicit intent of ensuring that States have the authority to pass and
enforce stronger State laws, including those with a duty of care. It is
also intended to ensure that ongoing lawsuits against social media
companies, chatbot providers, and social gaming companies brought by
State attorneys general and attorneys on behalf of parents and kids can
continue, including those based on a duty of care and consumer
protection laws.
  I am proud to lead this legislation alongside Chairman Guthrie. For
many months now, the Energy and Commerce Committee has been working on
legislative solutions to protect our kids and teens online, and this
comprehensive, bipartisan bill is the result of those ongoing
negotiations. This is an example of the Energy and Commerce Committee
at its best.
  Mr. Speaker, I am also grateful for the tireless work of
Representative Castor, a senior committee member, who has been a
steadfast champion of the strongest possible protection for kids
online.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the KIDS Act to
make the internet a safer place for our kids and teens, and I reserve
the balance of my time.

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