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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08)

Passage of Bill is a Critical Step Forward for Protecting Kids Online, Holding Big Tech Accountable

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Paul Tonko (Capital Region New York)

“For decades, the Brownfields Program has helped breathe new life into communities across our nation, bolstering local economies, creating new jobs, supporting environmental justice communities and protecting public health,” said Congressman Tonko, Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment. “Throughout my time in Congress, I’ve worked to support this worthy program and bring these sweeping benefits to our Capital Region and beyond. I’m thrilled to see this significant funding that will create new opportunities for those who call Montgomery County home and strengthen our region for years to come.”

The funding for Montgomery County is one of more than a dozen awardees in New York receiving a total of over $14 million in Brownfields program funding. The grant for Montgomery will be used to inventory and prioritize sites and conduct 26 Phase I and 11 Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds will also be used to develop ten cleanup plans and five site reuse assessments, and support community engagement activities. Assessment activities will focus on the Village of St. Johnsville, the Village of Nelliston’s Brownfield Opportunity Area, and the City of Amsterdam’s East End Brownfield Opportunity Area. Priority sites include a 3.7-acre unsecured former industrial property abandoned since the 1990s, a 5.3-acre former carpet mill, and a 2.2-acre lot used for cheese production from the 1940s until it was abandoned in the 1990s.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Reprepsentative Kathy Castor (FL14)

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and longtime leader for stronger online protections for children and teens, released the following statement after the House passed the bipartisan KIDS Act, legislation to strengthen outdated privacy and safety protections for young people online. The KIDS Act passed the House 267-117.

“Today’s adoption of the bipartisan KIDS Act is a long-overdue and meaningful step toward protecting America’s children in the digital age,” said Rep. Castor. “For years, parents, young people, pediatricians, psychologists, teachers and advocates have made clear that Big Tech must act to reduce the harms experienced by too many kids online. This bill strengthens privacy protections for children and teens, bans targeted advertising to young people, gives families more control and preserves parents’ ability to seek justice in court.

“This is an important step, but it is not the end of our work. I will continue to press to create a safer digital environment for children and teens.”

The KIDS Act would strengthen and expand existing online privacy protections for children and teens, limit the collection and use of young people’s personal information, require stronger safeguards and tools for families, support state and federal enforcement, and preserve families’ ability to pursue justice through the courts. Castor has led bipartisan efforts for years to strengthen the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and adopt age-appropriate design requirements for Big Tech corporations. The KIDS Act reflects much of Castor’s work to improve the law.

Background:

Children and teens face growing risks online, including harmful content, cyberbullying, exploitation and manipulative design features that keep young people addicted.

• Up to 95% of youth ages 13-17 report using a social media platform, with more than a third saying they use social media almost constantly, according to a 2023 Surgeon General report.
• 1 in 5 teens say social media sites hurt their mental health, and a growing share think they harm people their age, according to Pew Research Center.
• A 2024 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report found that social media companies failed to adequately protect children and teens
• In the United States, teens who spend four or more hours online each day are more than twice as likely to report symptoms of anxiety and depression.
• Studies show a dramatic rise in online sexual exploitation, including a 26,000% increase in AI-generated child sexual abuse material reported globally in 2025.

The bipartisan KIDS Act would:

• Extend online privacy protections to teens for the first time by strengthening and expanding existing protections from children under 13 to young people up to age 17.
• Ban targeted advertising to children and teens.
• Require Big Tech platforms to provide safeguards and tools that give young people and families more control over their online experience.
• Help families hold Big Tech accountable for harms caused online.
• Establish a federal safety floor for parents and children while allowing states to enact even stronger protections.
• Protect existing and future lawsuits seeking justice for children and families harmed online.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA-03)

Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee, spoke on the House floor in support of the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act (KIDS) Act, bipartisan legislation containing multiple provisions to better protect children from online harms.
“Our children have been left to navigate one of the most powerful and manipulative technologies ever built, and they’ve been left to do it alone,” said Congresswoman Trahan. “That ends with this bill.”
Footage of Trahan’s remarks on the House floor can be accessed HERE or by clicking the image below. A transcript of her remarks as delivered is embedded.

The KIDS Act combines the Kids Online Safety Act, the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), new data broker transparency requirements, and several additional measures into a single package of baseline protections for kids and teens online. The bill is the product of months of bipartisan negotiations led by Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) and Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (KY-02).
Among its provisions, the KIDS Act:

Updates COPPA to strengthen privacy protections and extend them from children under 13 to teens up to age 17, adding data minimization requirements, rights to access, correct, and delete data, and a ban on targeted advertising to minors.

Requires social media platforms, including social gaming platforms, to enable safeguards by default, including limits on addictive design features, restrictions on sharing minors’ geolocation, and protections that keep adults from contacting or being recommended minor accounts.

Gives parents tools to restrict minors’ purchases and screen time and to receive alerts when unknown users contact their kids.

Requires chatbots to disclose that they are not human and to provide suicide prevention resources when prompted.

Forces data brokers that sell kids’ data to register annually with the Federal Trade Commission.

Crucially, the bill explicitly preserves the right of states to enact and enforce stronger protections for children online, ensuring federal action serves as a floor rather than a ceiling.
Congresswoman Trahan has spent years on the Energy and Commerce Committee advocating for stronger online protections for children, from her early work on social media data transparency to legislation aimed at curbing the harms platforms pose to young users.
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Congresswoman Lori Trahan
Remarks as Delivered
Floor Speech on KIDS Act
June 29, 2026 
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Ranking Member for yielding and for his strong leadership on this vitally important issue.
When I joined the Energy and Commerce Committee six years ago, I committed to doing everything in my power to make the internet a safer place for my children, my two young daughters specifically. In the years since, I’ve sat in hearing after hearing where we’ve talked about doing something to deliver on that promise. I’ve met with parents who have lived every family’s worst nightmare, parents whose children harmed themselves, and even ended their lives, because executives in Silicon Valley cared more about their stock price than the safety of our children.
I looked those parents in the eye. I cried with them as they told their story. And then I went home to have hard conversations with my own girls about how the apps they use – Instagram, TikTok, and others – are engineered to make them doubt their image and question their worth.
For years, this crisis has gone unanswered, decades at this point. Our children have been left to navigate one of the most powerful and manipulative technologies ever built, and they’ve been left to do it alone. Well, this bill ends that. 
To be clear, Mr. Speaker, the KIDS Act doesn’t solve every problem, but it makes one heck of a dent. It finally gives kids and teens overdue privacy protections. It forces platforms to turn on safeguards by default, instead of burying them where no parent can find them. It puts tools in the hands of moms and dads. And it makes companies answer for the worst harms that they allow on their platforms.
Is it everything I want? No. I’ve heard from parents and advocates who believe we should go further, and they’re right that this fight isn’t over. We can and must continue to build upon this progress, but I refuse to tell families to wait for a better political moment or for a perfect bill that may never come when meaningful protections are in front of us right now. And critically, these are protections built to last, not ones written to be struck down in court on the day they take effect.
I want to thank Ranking Member Pallone for his commitment to these negotiations, and I want to acknowledge the work of leaders on the committee on this issue, including Congresswoman Kathy Castor and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke.
Today, we pass the KIDS Act. Tomorrow, we keep fighting for safer digital spaces for every child, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence. I urge my colleagues to vote yes, and I yield back the balance of my time. Thank you.
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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (7th District of Washington)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) released the following statement after voting against the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act, legislation that does not impose strong enough safeguards to protect children online. 

“I am incredibly concerned about the health and safety of children online. Congress absolutely must pass strong legislation urgently to protect our kids from the Big Tech companies that put out dangerous algorithms that prey on their vulnerabilities, but the Kids Act is not that piece of legislation. I voted no because we have a real opportunity to pass bipartisan legislation that holds these companies to not just be transparent about the harms and mitigate them, but actually to prevent them.

“This legislation completely omits the Senate-passed ‘duty of care’ provision, which requires Big Tech to actually fix their algorithms so that kids aren’t exposed to harmful content. The bill also leaves out suicide, depression, addiction, substance abuse disorders, and eating disorders from the list of harms that these corporations must address. Leaving these provisions out is a gift to Big Tech, who will be allowed to write their own rules and police themselves. I am also concerned about a whole host of provisions that were added that do not do enough to actually address the harms of AI. We have seen time and again that these corporations cannot be trusted to put children’s safety over their own profit margins. We cannot keep exposing our kids to platforms that are either completely indifferent to their safety or a direct threat to it.

“The Senate passed a bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act with 91 bipartisan votes last session that addressed duty of care and held tech companies responsible for not causing harm to our kids in the first place. We must urgently move forward with stronger legislation to protect kids and I will continue doing everything I can to ensure that Congress does just that and addresses the flaws in this piece of legislation.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Frank Pallone (6th District of New Jersey)

“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.” 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08)

Passage of Bill is a Critical Step Forward for Protecting Kids Online, Holding Big Tech Accountable

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04)

WASHINGTON — Speaker Johnson issued the following statement after the House passed H.R. 7757 – the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act – landmark legislation to protect children and teens online and empower parents to make the best decisions for their own children.

“For years, Congress has worked to find 21st century solutions to the real dangers that children and teens face online, and the bipartisan KIDS Act offers a major remedy to these problems. This legislation represents an important step forward in Congress’ effort to protect children online and hold big tech accountable, while also empowering parents and protecting free speech,” Speaker Johnson said. “I commend Chairman Guthrie for working across the aisle to get this done, and we look forward to working with our Senate counterparts to ensure these essential protections for our children become law.”

“Parents should be able to trust that their children are safe online. The KIDS Act takes a focused, commonsense approach to strengthening protections for minors, while giving families more tools to help keep their children safe,” Leader Scalise said. “I applaud Chairman Guthrie and the Energy and Commerce Committee for their leadership in advancing this important legislation. House Republicans will continue fighting for policies that put families first.”

“Congress has spent years searching for how to best protect children and teens online, and today’s overwhelming bipartisan vote indicates that we have found our solution. The KIDS Act creates strong protections with new rules for design features, default settings, and kids’ privacy,” Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Guthrie said. “We want to thank our colleagues for their strong vote today to protect kids, empower parents, and hold internet platforms accountable.”

“Empowering parents to better protect their children—especially in the face of the near-constant barrage of digital threats—remains one of our most important responsibilities,” Rep. Bilirakis said. “Today, we advanced that mission by moving forward this package, including the Kids Online Safety Act, which establishes a comprehensive set of safeguards, such as addressing compulsive usage, and parental controls to protect kids. One troubling post should not turn into a constant stream of depression, suicide, or eating disorder content. I remain committed to ensuring children can safely navigate the digital world while holding technology companies accountable. Protecting our kids must always come before protecting corporate profits.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Brett Guthrie (2nd District Kentucky)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), and Congresswoman Kathy Castor (FL-14) issued the following statements after the House passed H.R. 7757, the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act by a vote of 267 to 117. 

“Congress has spent years searching for how to best protect children and teens online, and today’s overwhelming bipartisan vote indicates that we have found our solution. The KIDS Act creates strong protections with new rules for design features, default settings, and kids’ privacy,” said Chairman Guthrie and Ranking Member Pallone. “We want to thank our colleagues for their strong vote today to protect kids, empower parents, and hold internet platforms accountable.” 

“Empowering parents to better protect their children—especially in the face of the near-constant barrage of digital threats—remains one of our most important responsibilities,” said Rep. Bilirakis. “Today, we advanced that mission by moving forward this package, including the Kids Online Safety Act, which establishes a comprehensive set of safeguards, such as addressing compulsive usage, and parental controls to protect kids. One troubling post should not turn into a constant stream of depression, suicide, or eating disorder content. I remain committed to ensuring children can safely navigate the digital world while holding technology companies accountable. Protecting our kids must always come before protecting corporate profits.” 

“Today’s adoption of the bipartisan KIDS Act is a long-overdue and meaningful step toward protecting America’s children in the digital age,” said Rep. Castor. “For years, parents, young people, pediatricians, psychologists, teachers and advocates have made clear that Big Tech must act to reduce the harms experienced by too many kids online. This bill strengthens privacy protections for children and teens, bans targeted advertising to young people, gives families more control and preserves parents’ ability to seek justice in court. This is an important step, but it is not the end of our work. I will continue to press to create a safer digital environment for children and teens.” 

A one pager on the KIDS Act, provided by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, can be found HERE. 

A section by section summary of the KIDS Act, provided by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, can be found HERE. 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (8th District of Illinois)

WASHINGTON — Days after warning during a congressional hearing that President Trump’s effort to reject timely cast mail ballots would disenfranchise military servicemembers and other Americans who rely on voting by mail, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released the following statement in response to today’s Supreme Court decision:

“The Supreme Court got this one right. Last week, I warned that President Trump’s effort to throw out ballots that were cast on time but arrived after Election Day would disenfranchise military servicemembers and other Americans who rely on the mail to vote. Today’s decision makes clear that federal law does not require states to reject those lawful ballots. The Trump Administration should respect the rule of law and stop trying to make it harder for eligible Americans to vote.”