[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 155 (Thursday, October 30, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S13677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ENZI:
  S. 1803. A bill to expand the applicability of daylight saving time; 
to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, this Friday, October 31, families all over 
America will be celebrating a special holiday that has become a family 
tradition. On that day, our children will be dressing up as their 
favorite characters and clowns and heading down the street to scour the 
neighborhood in search of their favorite candies and sweets. As each 
group of witches, goblins and ghouls patrols the neighborhood, the 
cries of ``Trick or Treat'' will be heard everywhere along with the 
shouts of joy and excitement from each participant as they bring home a 
bag full of all sorts of candy to share with the whole family.
  Although it is a great holiday, there has always been one great 
concern about it--the safety of our children. It is a concern that 
stems from the time change that occurs the weekend before Halloween. 
Unfortunately, when Congress passed legislation authorizing the use of 
daylight saving time, we drew the lines one week short of Halloween. 
Instead of including it in the time change boundaries, Congress drew 
the finish line for daylight saving time one week short, so that it 
ended the weekend before, instead of after the night so many of our 
children will be out walking the streets of their neighborhood in 
pursuit of their favorite holiday treats.
  That is why I am pleased to introduce the Halloween Safety Act of 
2003. Its purpose is to extend the end date of daylight saving time 
from the last Sunday in October to the first Sunday in November. This 
simple, but important, change will ensure that the protections of 
daylight saving time extend through Halloween.
  The idea of extending daylight saving time was introduced to me by 
Sharon Rasmussen, a second grade teacher from Sheridan, WY and her 
students. Twelve years ago Mrs. Rasmussen's class began writing to 
Wyoming's representatives expressing their wish to have an extra hour 
of daylight on Halloween to ensure the safety of small children. Each 
year since then I have received a packet of letters from Mrs. 
Rasmussen's class encouraging my support for this reasonable proposal.
  Legislation has been introduced in the past to extend daylight saving 
time. Although many of the bills sought to change both the starting 
date and the ending date, the legislation I introduced today would 
simply extend it for one week.
  The reason why such a change needs to be made is readily apparent. 
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, over four 
thousand eight hundred people died in 2001, that is an average of 13 
deaths per day. Fatal pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions occur most 
often between 6 and 9 p.m. Unfortunately, these general trends are 
highly magnified on Halloween given the considerable increase in 
pedestrians, most of whom are children. A study by the National Center 
for Injury Prevention and Control concluded that the occurrence of 
pedestrian deaths for children ages 5 to 14 is four times higher on 
Halloween than any other night of the year. School and communities 
encourage children and parents to use safety measures when children 
venture out on Halloween and the Halloween Safety Act can further help 
protect our nation's youth.
  When students take an interest in improving our Nation's laws, 
especially when it would serve to protect other children, I believe it 
is our duty to pay close attention to their needs and respond if 
possible. If children concerned about their own safety suggest a 
reasonable approach to making their world a little bit safer, I believe 
that accommodating their request is not too much to ask. The fact that 
second and third grade students in Sheridan, WY have been working on 
this legislation for years shows that protecting the children of our 
country is a primary concern of theirs, and it should be for all of us 
as lawmakers. If one life can be saved or one accident avoided by 
extending Daylight Saving Time, it would be worthwhile.
  I encourage all my colleagues to support this act for the important 
benefits the Halloween Safety Act of 2003 would have for children and 
their parents.
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